


FATED

by xDarkLoki



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Marvel (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Incredible Hulk (2008), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Action, Action/Adventure, Angst, Avengers Tower, Betrayal, Complicated Relationships, Domestic Avengers, Dysfunctional Family, F/M, Family Drama, Family Feels, Fights, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Love, Male-Female Friendship, Marvel Universe, Mutual Pining, Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Reader Has Powers, Reader Is Badass, Reader is Tony Stark's Sister, Reader is a SHIELD Agent, Reader-Insert, Reader-Interactive, Romance, Secret Identities, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Spy - Freeform, Thor Is Not Stupid, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-27
Updated: 2017-12-21
Packaged: 2018-07-18 13:31:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 56
Words: 107,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7317193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xDarkLoki/pseuds/xDarkLoki
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Previously titled: <b>Y/N Stark: An Avenger Story</b></p><p>    Being a Stark is a lot to live up to. You learn it as you have to earn your name. Your father was a genius, your mother commanded respect. When they died, they left no instructions, just a legacy to protect.</p><p>    Left alone and orphan, your brother raises you to understand that death doesn't discriminate. Between rich and poor, between the sinners and the saints. It takes. It just breaks.</p><p>    Through time, you find meaning to your life, embodying your legacy, holding your head high and through joy, death, betrayal and... love; you face foes and fight against your own demons. You find friends. Lovers.</p><p>    Everything happens for a reason, luck and fate are the same thing. It just depends on how you look at life. They can throw you to the wolves, tomorrow, you will come back, leader of the pack.</p><p>    Fate doesn't care about your plans.</p><p> </p><p>xDarkLoki © 2016 | 2017 | 2018</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Your Beginning - (SHIELD x Reader) [Prologue]

**Author's Note:**

> {Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. I do not own any of the Marvel characters featured in this book. I also do not own any dialogue from different media (movies, series) used in this book neither do I own the media featured in my chapters. I only own what is mine.}

   _August 1986 - Denny's, Washington D.C._

  
A woman with sunglasses took a seat on the bench and ordered a coffee. She was carrying quite a big bag that she put on the bench next to her. She was waiting for someone. She seemed anxious and stressed by this situation.  
  
Finally a young man with a black suit entered. The woman waved at him. He decided to take a seat behind her, back to back, acting casual.  
  
"Agent?" He nodded. "I guess you came alone as we agreed." Again he nodded. "Good. I am here because I need your help, your help only. And this needs to be discreet."  
  
She kept looking in front of her while the agent was already recording every detail: her British accent, her clothes…  
  
"You want me to be discreet but we're talking in the most famous American diner. Discretion isn't the right word. Is it?"  
  
"I am not a fool, agent. Neither are you. You could've surrounded any other building. This is the right place. Full of innocent lives." She took a sip of coffee. "I called you because my life is threatened. Where I came from they want me and somebody else dead. I betrayed them to protect this someone from these bad people."  
  
"Miss, if you are in danger we can provide you a protection. We can create a new cover for you both. You would live-" The woman chuckled and took another sip of her coffee.  
  
"Your agency can't protect me at this point, but you; you are part of the good ones... I am a dead woman. And about the other person. I owe her a good life. She will have a new life away from them... from me. That’s why this person can’t have any contact with your agency." She sighed. "I made a big mistake. Probably the biggest mistake of my life but now I can redeem myself. I can protect her. She's innocent." She looked at the bag next to her with a sad smile. Then she stood up. "Goodbye agent." Then she left the Diner.  
  
The man stood up but before he could run after her and called for backups, he saw the bag and instinctively took his gun out. "Everyone stand back and leave this place! Now!" All of the customers and workers left the restaurant in panic.  
  
Then the bag moved slightly, it was half open. He leaned on to take a better look at it. He didn't expected what he saw inside. He looked around him; he thought a moment, took the bag and left by the back. Once the man arrived next to his car he pulled out his phone. "Fury? I think we might have a problem here." He looked inside of the bag.  
  
                                                                 *****************************************  
  
  _November 1986 - Newark Liberty International Airport, NY_

  
"Director Stark, it's such a pleasure to meet you, Sir." They shook their hands  
  
"The pleasure is mine Agent. How is she doing?" He pointed at the baby sleeping in the back of the car.  
  
"She's fine, Sir.  Agent Fury told me we should keep this between us. Nobody has to know. Discretion is the key." Howard nodded and sighed.  
  
"Maria and my son are very excited to meet her. Can I?" The agent nodded then opened the car and gave the baby girl to Howard. He looked at... you with a sad smile.  
  
"She's very beautiful... an angel. Why have they done to you? She's just one year old." He looked back at the young Agent. “Do you have anything on her mother?”  
  
“We just know she is British, by her accent. Nothing else, we looked for her but we found nothing in three months. We believe from what she said that she was part of this… project. But we don’t even know why she gave the baby to us.”  
  
Howard smiled at you. "As I said, we will take care of her; of course I’ll call you if I find a change. Thank you Agent." They shook their hands again and Howard sat you at the back of his car and kissed your forehead "I will protect you from these people, whoever the hell they are. Sleep well beauty." He was about to drive when the agent stopped him.  
  
"One last thing, Sir. It is better if we hide the truth about her blurred background. Some things need to be kept under shadows, for our safety, for her safety."  
  
  
                                                                 *****************************************  
  
  _December 16th, 1991 - Howard Stark's Mansion, NYC_  
  
You were sitting on the couch watching Beauty and The Beast for the first time on TV. Edwin Jarvis, the family’s butler, was babysitting you whilst your parents went for a trip in Long Island. You were half way the film when you heard a knock at the door.  
  
Jarvis stood up "stay there Miss Stark." You nodded and watched the TV again.  
  
However you heard the voice of a woman: she was talking with Edwin but you also heard her sobs. You knew that woman. In fact she is an old friend of your parents. She always visited you; she was like a role model. She always told you stories about the forties, the WWII and… some rare times about Captain America.  
  
You recognized her sweet British accent. Then she entered the room. She grabbed the remote control and turned off the television. You watched her silently. A small part of you knew what happened when she entered the living room.  
  
"Peggy. Why are you crying?" She didn't answer more tears rolled down her cheeks; she looked at Jarvis then at you. You also turned to Edwin and you saw him crying. You've never seen him crying.  
  
After what felt like hours she finally spoke up.  
  
"Y/N, you are a big girl now. You are six. I remember the day I met you, a sleeping angel. What I'm trying to say is you are old enough to understand but also young enough to... heal. Even though, we never heal." She sat in front of you and took your hands. "Darling, it's your parents. They had a car accident."  
  
"W- What?” At that moment you felt like your whole world fell… a few tears formed in the corner of your eyes.  
  
She squeezed your hands. "I'm so sorry Y/N. They both died earlier today. I believe Tony is on his way to home. I am so sorry y/n/n.”  
  
“This isn’t true!”  
  
“It is… I’m sorry.”  
  
She took you in her arms and hugged you so tight, you couldn't speak.  
  
You were just crying all the tears you had. Even Jarvis hugged you and tried to comfort you. The night went but you couldn't sleep. You couldn't believe it.  
  
Howard and Maria always told you the truth about your adoption but you were very clever and you knew they were too old to have a baby at that time before they even told you. They were your only parents, you loved them unconditionally. You panicked at the thought the only two people who wanted you, were now gone. What will happen? Your life was changed.  
  
"Peggy?"  
  
"Yes, Y/N?"  
  
"W- Who will take care o- of me no- now?"  
  
"Me."  
  
You recognized his voice and ran to him. "Tony!"  
  
He lowered himself and took you in his arms. "We will go through this together. I will never let you go. I promise I will take care of you. We also have Jarvis." He whispered into your ear and tried to smile but he couldn't. "We'll stay together. Ok sis?" You nodded and hugged him tighter like he was about to leave you.


	2. Your Beginning - (S.H.I.E.L.D. x Reader) 1/3

Tony Stark x Sister!Reader  
  
 _Ten years later._  
  
  Summer 2001 - Stark Mansion, Malibu, CA  
  
Your brother, Tony, was right. He has never let you go. With the help of Peggy and the late Jarvis, you were, now, a beautiful and strong young teenager. Tony became CEO of Stark Industries as your father wanted but he always took time for you and you were closer than ever.  
  
Since the death of your parents a part of you changed, you were broken inside but you hid it. You decided to be strong; you learnt this from the best. Peggy taught you how to be independent and most important of all being cleverer than men. Tony was your rock and taught you how to build your walls to protect you from your feelings by inherited your father's legendary intelligence, humor and boldness. Finally Jarvis, well Edwin gave you his sarcasm you always loved.  
  
“What are you wearing tonight?” Your best friends asked when you stepped inside your bedroom. “I don’t want to wear the same dress.”  
  
You laughed, “I don’t know, Y/BF/N. You know my brother, I’m gonna wear something simple because we’ll spent the rest of the night on the beach, right?”  
  
“Right!”  
  
Tony decided to throw a giant party with your friends to celebrate your graduation from high school and your first step in your new life.  
  
You had now the choice to enter between two of the most prestigious universities in the world: MIT, like your brother, or Oxford University. You always wanted to go to Europe and finally visit Peggy's country. But a part of you wanted to stay with your only family.  
  
                                                                                         ****  
  
You were enjoying the night with your besties when someone you didn't want to see came in front of you.  
  
"Congratulations to our new beautiful student!" Obadiah Stane greeted you with a hug. "You know Y/N; I think your brother and I will have something for you at the company when you'll be graduated. No worries."  
  
You rolled your eyes. "This company was my father's, so of course I already had a job the day I became a member of this family. But thank you for reminding me."  
  
Stane was speechless…  
  
"Ouch. Definitely my sister, right?" Tony laughed behind you.  
  
You couldn't help but giggle at the expression on Obadiah's face.  
  
"Umm excuse me. Can I talk to you, Tony? In private." He nodded, and took you away from the party in a bathroom.  
  
"Why, the hell, did you bring Stane to a teenage party?! In fact it's MY party.” He just smirked and sighed. “C'mon he's so old and we're all sixteen here. He could be our grandfather!"  
  
"Listen, he wanted to say hello. Remember he was our father's friend."  
  
"I know but I don't like him." You put your hands on your hips. "Anyway, just get him out of here and you too."  
  
"Excuse me? Ho-hey. That's MY house, so I stay if I want to stay. You leave if you want. You should be happy to stay there when I can kick your ass out of here with your boyfriend, Chris. I saw him leaving your master bedroom, by the window, the other day.” Tony crossed his arms and frowned. “I gave him the big brother talk; so, don’t be surprised if he’s afraid when I’ll be around…"  
  
"Okay. I'm sorry, this won’t happen again. Promise. Anyway, how is it going with... what's her name Angie? No. Claire. No. No, it was last week. I got it. It's Emily. She’s not here, weird." You crossed your arms over your chest and waited for an answer but he looked away.  
  
"I left her. She was too... demanding. I can't stand it"  
  
You just hit his arm with your fist. "Anthony Edward Womanizer Stark will never change, right?"  
  
He just sat on the edge of the tub and you did so. "Can we just switch the conversation? I just think it's weird to talk about this with my innocent... no wait, my not so innocent little sister."  
  
You smiled. "Talk about what?"  
  
"So, have you chosen? Oxford or MIT? Because you don't much time, a week actually. You know that."  
  
"Of course I know that, you dork. I just don't know. It's not like I'm not intelligent enough to get into both. But it's just, in one hand I want to leave and visit the UK and in the other hand I don't want to leave you and my friends here."  
  
You stood up and made your way back to the party. Tony grabbed you a glass of coke.  
  
"Okay, you're too young for problems. Just enjoy the party. I'll get out of here because I have a date. I won't waste my time with you when your silly boyfriend is around. He could feel like shit next to me."  
  
You rolled your eyes and wished him goodnight.  
  
                                                                                         ****  
  
The next morning you woke up on the couch of the living room. You remembered the events, when Tony left you laughed danced like there was tomorrow. Your friends eventually left in the middle of the night.  
  
"J.A.R.V.I.S. what time is it please?" You tried to stand up but gave up... too tired.  
  
"It’s 10:00 a.m., Miss. Do you want me to order your usual breakfast?"  
  
"No J. Thanks. I think I'll go get a Starbuck before meeting my brother and Pepper at his office. Oh and could you ask Dum-E to clean the house for me? Please."  
  
"Right away, Miss Stark."  
  
You jumped in the shower and tried to relax thinking of your choice between the universities.  
  
You quickly changed your clothes and left the mansion to the closest Starbuck. You parked your car but before you could enter the coffee shop, a man, behind you, called you.


	3. Your Beginning - (S.H.I.E.L.D. x Reader) 2/3

Phil Coulson x Reader  
  
  _Starbucks coffee, Malibu, CA_  
  
"Miss Y/N Stark?" You turned around to see a man in a black suit standing a foot away.  
  
"Yes… but you know my brother has an assistant, she can book you an appointment at Stark Industries." You were about to leave when he stepped in front of you.  
  
"No. I wanted to meet you, not Mr. Stark."  
  
You frowned. "Sorry, but do we know each other?"   
  
He shook his head. "Agent Phillip Coulson with Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistic Division." You shook his hand.  
  
"Wow, did you guys think of changing the name? It must be exhausting to say this all day.”  
  
He chuckled. "We're working on it. You can call us S.H.I.E.L.D." You nodded. "Shall we take a coffee? I have an offer for you."  
  
"I don't know, you could be a psychopath, serial killer or whatever and trust me, you'd truly regret this." You thought of making him run away from you, using… your own abilities.  
  
"My organization and I are the good guys. We just want to talk with you, nothing more."  
  
You followed him inside the coffee shop and something was unusual, it was empty. An empty Starbucks, really?! You both took a seat. He finally began to speak.  
  
"I work for a secret agency. If I headed to you, it's because you are linked to it."  
  
"Is it normal that we are alone here?” You frowned. “I mean it's a coffee, it should be crowded."  
  
He just continued. "We decided it was better to be alone while we're talking."  
  
Your jaw dropped. "Wait a minute. You did this?! Why?"  
  
He smiled, "we are very powerful people."  
  
"Okay, I think it's getting weird. It's a prank, isn’t it? Come on, show me the cameras you fooled Tony Stark's sister." He kept looking serious and you shook your head. "As I said you could regret it."  
  
He just smiled and stood up to take a coffee, you followed him by your gaze.  
  
"My turn now, and could you listen, please? Don't cut me off because you are feeding your family’s clichés." You raised an eyebrow. "You are linked to S.H.I.E.L.D., but you must keep this for yourself." He sat back and handed you a cup. "S.H.I.E.L.D. is an international espionage, counterterrorism, and law enforcement organization. Your father is one of the founders of the agency as well as Agent Peggy Carter and Colonel Chester Phillips. You might know them too.”  
  
You raised your eyebrows and waited a moment.  
  
"So you're telling me that my father and his WWII friends founded, what seems to be like, the biggest secret agency in the world and he kept it away from my whole family all this time." You paused. "Who tell me you are telling the truth? Why would I believe you?"  
  
“As I said we’re the good guys like your father was.”  
  
“Really? How am I supposed to trust you?”  
  
"You can ask Mrs. Carter. I think she can explain all of it, she has the answers."  
  
So he was telling the truth? Your father lied about his job, so, on what else did he lie to you? You were speechless, you had tons of questions, but you couldn't speak. You were shocked.  
  
"You may have tons of questions and I’ll explain what our job is. We're not a conventional agency. We are working on things you may not understand, big things. The principle S.H.I.E.L.D. was founded upon was pure protection, one word. Sometimes to protect one man against himself, other times to protect the planet against a man…  but the belief that drives us all is the same, whether it's one man, or all mankind. That they're worth saving."  
  
“It doesn’t make sense; you’re telling me all my closest people lied to me my entire life. It’s real life, not a movie… Why would my parents and Peggy hide this from me?”  
  
“Because you weren’t ready to hear this.” He paused. “You seem like you are taking it well.”  
  
You looked at him confused. "So what does this have to do with me? I mean my father may have founded S.H.I.E.L.D., but why are talking about this to me? Um, does my brother know about all of this?"  
  
"No, he doesn't. It's better for you and your brother that this should be kept between us." You sighed and looked away. "Can I call you Y/N?" You nodded; you were lost in your thoughts. "Ok Y/N, now if I am here explaining all of it, it's for a simple reason. My Director and I want you to join the S.H.I.E.L.D. we want you to join our Academy. It's like a college, and then become an agent. We think you could be a good asset to our organization."  
  
“Really? You’re asking me this?” You laughed with sarcasm. "No, I can't. First of all, I'm a terrible liar, and I'm about to leave the country for a prestigious university. My life is planned. I'll work with my brother and live a happy billionaire life."  
  
"We can create a cover. Make your closest believe you are studying in the UK, but you'd be studying at the Academy with us. I'm sure you could be great at the Science and Technology, I know you love engineering like your brother. But the Operations is perfect for you, I saw you fighting at the karate club. You are good. We can perfect your skills and create others." He gave you a disk. "Everything you have to know about us or the Academy is inside.”  
  
"How long have you been spying on me or my family, Agent Coulson?!" You yelled, you felt like an animal in a cage.  
  
"Y/N, you are Howard Stark's daughter. Of course we've been watching you since the day they adopted you!"  
  
"So you know my whole life.” You raised your eyebrows and shrugged. “I can't hide anything, right?"  
  
“We don't know your whole life.” He stared at his coffee with a sad smile and looked away. ”But what we know is you could make a very good agent."  
  
There was an awkward silence.  
  
"I am asking you if you want to join our Academy. Of course you have time to consider my offer and think about it: a week."  
  
"You are asking me to lie to my family and my friends, just to protect the world and be a kind of spy." He nodded. "My life would be a lie and a sacrifice. It’s not for me."  
  
"The price of freedom is high. We all made a choice, to protect our world's freedom."  
  
You looked through the window a few minutes, confused by what was happening.  
  
You turned to him with your special expressionless face. "If I say _no_ , what happens?"  
  
"We disappear and you'll never hear about us."  
  
"And If I say _yes_ , what happens?"  
  
"Your life will change, for the good." He paused and finished his coffee. "Whatever you say, you can contact me on this number.” He stood up and handed you a card. “Oh, and one more thing. You are not a terrible liar; your brother doesn't know about your secret yet, right?"  
  
 _**Damn, I didn't see that coming.**_ You thought.


	4. Your Beginning - (S.H.I.E.L.D. x Reader) 3/3

Peggy Carter x Reader  
  
  _Summer 2001 - Peggy Carter's house, Washington D.C._  
  
Two days past since your meeting with Agent Coulson and that left you confused.  
  
You checked the disk he gave you; it was mainly about S.H.I.E.L.D. history and what the Academy was. The least you could say was Coulson was right: the Operations academy seemed very interesting but it had the most aggressive program, and the highest percentage of washouts.  
  
This Academy is training Specialists and Field Agents. Actually, you were pretty surprised to consider being a spy, you liked the idea, this would be good but at what cost? You didn't tell anyone; even your brother, but you needed some answers. You decided to pay a visit to your old friend and finally get your so waited answers.  
  
You arrived in front of Peggy’s door and knocked. You didn't wait long until she opened.  
  
"Good afternoon, darling. I have missed you."  
  
You hugged her "Hi Peg, I missed you too. How are you doing?"  
  
She gestured you to sit down on the couch, she also did it. "Well, I'm 80, so I don't have all my time to talk about my health problems, you would probably fall asleep. And I don't want to die of explaining everything, anytime soon."  
  
"Shut it, Peggy. You are maybe 80 but you look way better than me. Besides, when you catch Captain America, it means you look way better than any other girl." You laughed with her; she loved to joke about that.  
  
You winked and she just grinned like a little girl remembering her time with him. You loved to see her like this, but you remembered S.H.I.E.L.D. and why you came to talk.   
  
She looked at you more seriously. "Are you in trouble? What is it?"  
  
Peggy was the only person that could read through your emotionless face... too smart for you!  
  
You sighed and looked at your hands. "Peggy, if you had to hide something from me, something important, hugely important. What would you say if I told you I know what it is?"  
  
She frowned. "Are talking about your abilities? I told you how it happened, I didn't lie to you."  
  
"No, it's not about that. I mean, it's about S.H.I.E.L.D." You looked up at her. She didn't seem surprised. She seemed quite happy to finally talk about this.  
  
"Shortly after our victory over Hydra and the end of WWII. I worked for the SSR but Howard, Chester and I decided to grow it bigger. So we founded S.H.I.E.L.D. in the base of the protection of our world."  
  
"I already know that. I just want to know, why are they calling me, now?"  
  
"Because I decided to tell the Director you could make a good agent. We know about your enhanced abilities which is a very good point at the moment."  
  
“So, they know about it too?"  
  
"Yes and no. When you first experienced your powers, you were on vacation in 1990. Now, you know why Howard always ran some tests on you. He wanted to check on you if you'll be alright. And look at you; you are alright. He told the actual Director about it, but nothing happened since the first event... and lately."  
  
"Oh. I got it. They just want to have me around them, trying to control me, if one day I freak out and destroy everything around me. I know I'm a monster, I don't need them."  
  
She took your hands in hers. "You are all but a monster Y/N. You are strong, beautiful outside and inside. You and your brother have had tough times but you always kept smiling. You chose to be happy and make people happy. You are not a monster."   
  
"Maybe I am, but I feel like this growing inside me. This is in me and it's changing me. Peggy, my powers are stronger than I thought. You are the only one… along with two members of S.H.I.E.L.D. to know the truth, now. I'm trying to control my abilities, but it's so hard." You sighed. "I'm planning to tell Tony when I'll be ready. He has to know."  
  
"Why are you so dramatic?" She laughed and you smiled. "I have an advice. If you feel like you are loosing control: then join S.H.I.E.L.D. Trust me, they are the ones who can handle it and help you. Then, you'll talk to Tony. Please Y/N, think about this. You always told me you wanted to be like me. That's your chance to be better than me. Do it for yourself. I always knew you'd be great at this."  
  
You just smiled and hugged her! You stayed like this remembering your childhood and the very first time your powers came to you.  
  
 _*You screamed at what you had in your hands… you shook them but it didn’t go. It didn’t **hurt** either.  
  
"Y/N/N, what are you doing?" Your father lowered himself and took you in his arms. He couldn't believe what he saw. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?" You just shook your head. You didn't understand what was happening. You stood silent. "Y/N, my angel. Please talk to me." You were remembering what happened, trying to understand. "I will run a test, ok? As usual. Just to check if everything’s alright." You nodded.  
  
He took you to his lab and called Maria. She pulled you into a hug and comforted you while your father took some blood from your left arm.  
  
"Mom, I'm not normal." You cried. You still didn't know what happened.  
  
"No, you are. You are just... gifted, Y/N."  
  
Your father came back and whispered something to your mother, but you couldn't hear it because of your sobs.*_  
  
"Y/N. Y/N." Peggy waved a hand in front of your eyes. "Are you with me?"  
  
You shook your head. "Yes. Yes. I just remembered something." She nodded. "I think I'll leave. I need some time." You hugged one more time. "Bye, Peggy." You opened the door.  
  
"Y/N, just make the good choice. I'm sure you will join us. Our family." You smiled and then you left.  
  
                                                         *****************************************  
  
  _Summer 2001 – Stark Mansion, Malibu, CA_ <  
  
It has been three days since you talked to Peggy and finally you made a choice. During these three days you ran all the research you could about your powers, your father and S.H.I.E.L.D.  
  
You tried to hack some files about them from your brother's office, but there was nothing about them out there. However, with the help of J.A.R.V.I.S. you found the Director identity: Nicholas Joseph "Nick" Fury, a former Colonel from the US Army.  
  
You swore you knew that man.  
  
After three days, calling Peggy, away from the world, considering the rights and the wrongs you decided to make your father proud. Y/N Stark, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. That sounded good. You liked it. You were about to call Coulson. But you remembered a man with an official black suit always talking to your father while you were at Stark Industries.  
  
 _*You were playing with your toys in your father's office; it was two days after the events. Your parents decided to go back to NYC. A bald man arrived and talked with your father, they were looking at you. You could hear them. They were next to you after all. And being a good Stark means to listen to them carefully while doing other things.  
  
“When did this happen exactly?" The man, with a deep voice, looked at you.   
  
"Two days ago. She was playing in the garden at our house in Los Angeles. It didn't hurt her. She was playing with it. It came out of her body. Then when I arrived, it stopped. She was so scared." Your father sat on his desk. "I immediately did a blood test. We didn't expect what we saw. Her whole DNA changed. She is enhanced. She can support a great heat, but also a great cold. **She can play with fire or ice.** If not both."  
  
"I think this is the first time I see someone with such powers... and she's a kid." The man paused a moment and looked at Howard. "You think it could change while she's growing up?"  
  
"I don't know it yet. But I'm pretty sure it will grow stronger. She will change." Howard sighed and looked at you. You were playing with his photo pencil, taking pictures of the room. "They will put her on the index once I won’t be Director anymore."  
  
"I don't know, Sir. She is so young. Maybe when she will be older and aware of her... 'gifts'. We will do it, yes. Pierce is supposed to be your successor, I’m just an Agent."  
  
“Our greatest Agent, with a bright future.”*_  
  
You made your way to your closet and took the card from your pocket that Agent Coulson gave you. You composed the number.  
  
"J.A.R.V.I.S., could you delete the trace of this call when I'll be finished." The AI agreed.  
  
 _‘Phil Coulson, here.’_  
  
"It's me, Y/N Stark"  
  
 _‘Oh, Y/N. Great. So what is your answer?’_  
  
You thought for a moment. "I'm in."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
You will become... **stronger**!


	5. Life Changing - (Phil Coulson x Reader)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the next part of the series. Ill be posting the next part on Friday. ;-)
> 
> I hope you enjoy, in this one there's a lot of information about what happened in 5 years.
> 
> The Fridge is S.H.I.E.D.'s high tech prison in the middle of an island.
> 
> Quick note about the charactes: Bobbi Morse, Grant Ward and Brent Jackson.
> 
> Bobbi Morse: vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/a…  
> Basically she is as badass as Natasha. Personally she is one of my favorite female characters of the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe). She is strong and a bit sassy.
> 
> Grant Ward: vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/m…  
> He's like the best fighter of S.H.I.EL.D. with Clint and Natasha. He's kinda sociopath and he LIKES to follow the rules, but he can be fun sometimes.
> 
> Brent Jackson: He isn't in the MCU, but he is a character from the comics... he's an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. so, you can imagine an actor "to take his role." Personally I see Jensen Ackles.
> 
> Agent Garrett: vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/a…  
> He's nuts. This guy is like 'I laugh during my missions', but he is reckles and doesn't care about the rules. He does what he wants. He is also kinda weird.
> 
> They won't appear as main characters in the future... this was just an introduction of their characters. Don't worry there will be the slightest crossovers with AoS. (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.)
> 
>  
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own any Marvel character.  
> Sorry if there's any mistake! :-)
> 
> Feel free share and comment. ^^

_July 2006 - S.H.I.E.L.D. Operation Academy, Classified_

“Agent Stark, ready to become an official agent?” Agent Coulson smiled when you walked up to him inside the Operation Academy’s auditorium.

“As I’ll never be, Agent Coulson.” You laughed and hugged him. “But I was born to be…”

It's been five years since you first met Agent Coulson or… Phil. During these five years you studied at the Operations to become a field agent, you also made friends at the Science and Technology Academy where you studied during your free times. After all, as a Stark you live for engineering, right?

Your first year was hard, probably the hardest. You left your boyfriend Chris and your friends. You told Tony you were studying in the UK, so, that would explain your very long absence when you'd be in missions around the world.

You didn't like to lie to him this way, but you had to protect him. Phil made you understand what you signed for: being a spy in the biggest intelligence agency on earth. He was your Supervising Officer (S.O.), you two became close friends: a father - daughter relationship. He was always there when you needed help, when you made your first steps in level 1...

There, you met some very good agents as Bobbi Morse. You became friends; in fact, she was so badass that you liked her. You also met Grant Ward, he was cold at first but you kind of liked him, and he became a friend too.

Before your very first mission with your S.O., Phil, you were trained to be perfectly skilled. First: the acrobatics, you chose the hardest degree, but you became an expert: box, Savate, Karate, Kung Fu, Jiu Jitsu and some moves from the wrestling.

They also taught you how to manipulate every kind of weapon: pistols, tactical guns, rim fires and riffles etc… But your thing was hand-to-hand combat with knives! You became a master at it because of the Escrima you practiced. You easily manipulated all of the knives they gave you: combat or tactical ones. How you loved your new job!

When you arrived on the campus, you tried to hide your powers. But it grew stronger; two years before your graduation, you decided to show them to Phil. You showed him a sneak peek of what you were capable of. At least what you knew you could handle.

_*"Okay, Y/N, so what's so important?" He asked as he sat on the couch of your room._

_"Just look at me and, please, don't run away."_

_You focused on your right hand and felt the heat radiating in you, it didn't burn. It felt comfortable. Then you focused on your left hand and felt the ice in your veins, it didn't freeze you. On one hand, you were in flames and on the other you were in ice. Basically, it was how it started with your father, so, it was easy to show this way._

_"..."_

_"Phil, say something. I know I should've shown you sooner. But I was afraid. You're the only one I trust. I mean, you always say 'trust the system' and I do, I swear."_

_He took a deep breath, your hands were shaking. What if they take you to the fridge or worse?_

_"How long has it been since the first time?"_

_"Well, the first time I was 5, and then nothing until... until my parents' death. At that moment, everything changed. Every year between the age of six and sixteen, I discovered something new about them. What I showed you was the basics.” You looked at your hands. “My whole body can be on fire or ice. I can burn things or freeze them with my touch. But I don't use them. First of all because I'm afraid and second of all because it ruins my clothes, I may be a billionaire, but I won't spend my life buying new clothes." You chuckled and looked up at him. "I'm not normal Phil... You'll put me in the index and then?"_

_"We'll put you in the index to write down what you are capable of and then we help you handle them and control them. I won't lose my best recruit. You are normal, just enhanced." He smiled, you felt so grateful. He waited a moment before he spoke up again. “You knew I already knew about it so, why do you show it now?”_

_“Because I wanted to be sure you knew what they are really about. I though you’d freak out.”_

_“Y/N, we’ve been watching you since day one, I knew you had powers, but I didn’t know they improved.” He paused and stood up. "And just in case, you mean you can also cook meat or, better, roast marshmallows? ...Pretty cool."_

_You just looked up at him and then burst into laughter.*_

They put in the index right after your conversation. The Index was a very short list of people and objects with super-powers kept by S.H.I.E.L.D. When a person with a power or ability was discovered, a team was sent out to file an "Index Asset Evaluation and Intake" report. It was followed by a full psychological evaluation and threat assessment. They mainly asked you question about your family or your social life and of course your powers. They discovered you were 100% psychology healthy and not considered as a threat to humanity. This was a very good thing. Wasn’t it?

The scientists and Phil helped you with your powers. During your last years while you continued your usual training, you also had this special one outside of missions. There you finally managed to discover your powers: Pyrokinesis, Cryokinesis, Thermokinesis, thermal vision… Oh, and you could fly when you were in ice or in flames! Badass, isn’t it?

Finished to talk about your five years there because that day was your biggest day here. After five years at the Operations Academy you finally graduated! You officially became a Field Agent, which made you level 4. It wasn't a big ceremony like in the movies. Your S.O. was there with your fellow students.

However, this year wasn't like the others, the Director himself showed up. He's never been there before. Which was surprising, but the guys around you were like little girls. He made a speech and honestly you didn't bother to listen. You were too focused on what he looked like. He always reminded you of someone. You tried to remember where you saw him… Then you got it! The guy with your father always talking about you and asking if you were alright.

When everything was finally over at the auditorium; you got back to your room and packed up your things. Now that everything here was over; you felt a bit homesick already. But you had a week off and all you wanted to do is finally seeing your brother after your last visit a few months before. In anticipation, you asked Pepper to buy you an apartment in Washington D.C. near the Triskelion, before your graduation.

Someone knocked at your door. "Y/N, it's me."

"Oh, Phil, come in." He opened the door and stayed in the doorway.

"Hill and I will give you your team affiliation at the Triskelion tomorrow."

"I thought I was in your team since you’re still my S.O. for another year."

"Yes, you are on my team but the Director will add another agent." You nodded and he smiled. "Ok, then. I'll see you there and don’t dare to be late."

“Ok, dad.” You joked and he laughed as he walked away. “Late is a Stark’s second nature.”

You continued to pack up your things and said good bye to your life there. Later you'd have a flight to your new home.

*****************************************

_July 2006 [The next day] – The Triskelion, Washington D.C._

You were waiting outside a conference room to see Commander Hill about your team and your first mission outside the academy. While you waited, he arrived there… Agent Brent Jackson, your ex. The person you didn’t want to see here. You dated him for three years and you left him when you discovered he cheated on you with another recruit… the moron!

You waited another minute and Hill told you two to enter and take a seat. You did so and then the door opened again and you saw the Agents Coulson, Garrett (Brent's S.O.) and Director Fury coming in. You and Brent stood up to greet them.

"Sit down Agents." Phil said and you sat down. You didn't know what was happening.

"Agent Stark. Agent Jackson. We've been looking at you since you joined our agency." Hill began. You looked at Phil with your 'what' face, but he just smiled at you.

Director Fury opened your files. "Deputy Director Maria Hill gave Jackson top marks in combat and the highest espionage rating since Agent Romanoff joined us, but low marks, only, in his people skills."

You smirked at his comment. “Um ‘low marks’ is an understatement, Sir.” Your ex gave you a death glare to which you brightly smiled in response. Brent was a sociopath, but knew how to use his good looking to charm a person when it was necessary.

"Stark, Hill gave you the highest marks in combat with or without your abilities and with knives, the same in espionage.” Fury lowered your file and looked at you. “Finally, she also gave you a top mark on your people skills, but your impertinence may be a pain in the ass... or a very good thing." You already knew that. Obviously.

"So, we decided to put you two together in Coulson’s team." Hill said.

"What?" You shook your head. "This is kinda nice of you Agent Hill, but I can't be on a team with _this_ guy." You didn’t bother to look at your ex; you pointed your finger at him. "He's a drama Queen... literally."

"Agent Stark.” Fury interrupted. “It’s your first day at the Triskelion and already discussing the orders."

"I'm sorry." You grumbled.

“Sir, she’s right.” Phil defended you. “This could be a problem in the future.”

"It's fine, Sir." A thin smile appeared on Brent’s face. "I'm happy to be with one of the best students of our Academy."

"Well, if it's all good. You can leave us." Garrett finished. "I'll brief you with Phil about your first mission next week."

 

How will you handle your missions, now?


	6. Family Business - (Tony Stark x Sister!Reader)

_July 2006 - Stark Mansion, Malibu, CA_

"Tony? I'm back!” You walked upstairs, he wasn't there. "Tony, where are you? I know you're there. Pepper called me."

You knocked at his master bedroom’s door and then opened… He was sleeping with another girl next to him!

"Damn, Tony!” He fell out of the bed. “You knew I'd be there! I called you!” You tried not to laugh and kept your horrified look. “You’re unbelievable!”

When his ‘girlfriend’ apologized for the millionth times; you left his room without another word and went down the workshop with a huge grin on your face.

You worked to reboot Dum-E, making it more stupid... call it another vengeance. *wink*

"J.A.R.V.I.S. could you remind my, dear, brother of my presence?"

“It’s already done.” The AI told you. “It’s good to have you back with us, Miss Stark.”

“Thanks, J.”

"Hey!” Your brother yelled behind the glass. “What are you doing to Dum-E?"

Tony rushed inside the room and took the tools from your hands to put them back in their original place.

"Good morning. It's good to see you too." He rolled his eyes and you smiled. "Did your new, _I don't know what_ left the mansion?" He nodded. "Well. Well. How have you been?"

"I've been better. Come here." You ran to hug him. "I missed you sis. But shh, don't tell anyone. I'm not supposed to have real feelings." You giggled. "I'm sorry; I couldn't be there for your graduation. I had a lot of work at the company."

He sat next to you, on his desk.

"It's okay. Now, I'm back and it's not like I've never lived like this. I mean with dad."

"Well, dad was more present with you, always worrying about you. But it's fine, I got used to it." He looked at you with a sad smile. "What about breakfast? I'm starving, last night was exhausting." He stood up and gave you a hand.

"No details, please. I’m still innocent."

You went to the kitchen and prepared breakfast while Tony spoke up.

“Did you even date someone since you left your last boyfriend, Jackson?”

“Uh, not really. I saw two guys since then, but they just wanted to meet you. They thought they could get a work easily if they were dating Tony Stark’s sister.”

When you spent your free time at the Science and Technology Academy, a few months after your bad breakup, two agents had a few dates with you but you soon realized what they really wanted. Oh, how you hated men at this point of your love life.

“Sorry if I’m a well-known genius.”

“Shut it and eat.” You laughed. “You guys are all the same…”

You ate your breakfast and talked about everything that happened since the last time you saw him on your Christmas break. Eventually, the discussion turned into your job research.

"Y/N, now you have a job at the company. Tell me, what do you want?"

"Your job." He frowned and you laughed at him. "I'm kidding, don't worry. I love you, but I don't want to be like you. I want a real life."

"Okay... I thought you could work with me as a team. You are good at engineering too, I could help you."

You smiled, it was pretty hard to lie about your real job, but it was the deal…

"I thought about being the responsible of the international relations and communications."

"Y/N, you are too young you are inexperienced."

"Hey, I'm 22.”

“And?”

“ _And_ you became CEO of the largest tech company in the world at 21.”

“Good point.”

“I may not be as good as you in engineering, but I really want work at the family’s company. I always loved to travel with you, so this job is perfect for me.” You put the plates in the sink. “And I’m good with communications.”

“I’ll be your boss there, will you endure the pressure?”

“I know my value and I studied to get this job!"

"You sound like dad’s friend."

"Excuse me if Peggy is also my friend."

"Yep." He sighed. "You got it. You are the new responsible of blablabla." You jumped from your seat to hug him. "You know what it means? You'll be travelling 90% of the year." You nodded happily. And hugged him again to which he just chuckled. "Cuteness overload."

*****************************************

_July 2006 - your apartment, Washington D.C._

Your work at Stark Industries was just an undercover, this job made easier to explain why you'd have to live 90, no, 95% of your time between D.C. and the rest of the world. You thought it'd hurt you, but it didn't. You were a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent now: you kept your feelings for yourself. That was your job. Protect people, including your brother, at any costs.

Now that you were finally settled in your new home, you have lived four days with countless boxes around you. You escaped them by visiting Peggy every day, but you had to face these evil boxes… or later. Because the next day, you had your very first mission as an official Agent.

You were reading a book when someone knocked at your door. You tried to clean up everything around, you didn't expect anyone because only Tony knew where you lived.

S.H.I.E.L.D. knew too of course.

You opened the door and saw your brother with a bottle of champagne in his hand and his famous smirk decorating his adorable face.

"Tony?" You laughed when he, dramatically, removed his sunglasses.

"Hi. I just wanted to check if everything was all right here."

He stepped inside and took a quick look around your place.

"Well… I'm moving so, excuse the boxes around."

“Okay, come with me.” He placed the bottle inside your fridge and took your hand. “I have something for you.”

You frowned when he led you outside your building to show you a giant gift box on the parking of your, usually, so quiet street.

“What did you do?” You crossed your arms, ready to see his last prank.

You looked at your brother unfolding the giant package to show a black Bugatti Veyron 16.4 inside… the most expensive car for this past year, and probably the best.

“This is your gift.” Tony laughed.

“What?” You gasped and walked towards it. “Are you joking?”

“No, of course I’m not. You graduated so, I bought you a present.” He reached a hand into his pocket and threw you the keys. “Congrats, sis.”

“Oh, my God, Tony!!!” You jumped like a little girl around the car. “Thank you so much!”

“Just drive, no need to thank me.”

“Life goals.”


	7. Hostility - (Phil Coulson x Reader)

_January 2008 - Granada, Spain_

Eighteen months. It's been eighteen months since you joined Phil’s team... with your ex. Sometimes, when Brent was around, you’d argue with him because of his obsession for the rules you always hated. But most of the times, you were very professional and never talked to each other or only if it was necessary. Phil saw this and wasn’t pleased about it.

However, you were a perfect team. Your first mission was a wrap, you were sent as a French attaché at the embassy in Warsaw, Poland. Not a big thing, but it was very good for your status as an Agent. You proved your worth. Phil was always there to supervise everything and give you his best advices in the field. And soon you rose through the ranks and became a level 5 agent. Since then, every mission was harder than the last one.

“Y/N, you come, with me, at the north exit.” Phil loaded his gun and you put on your earpiece. “Jackson, you go to the south exit. Once we’re there we take everything we need and we leave to Garrett’s Quinjet.”

“Copy that.” You put your two favorite knives in your belt.

Brent infiltrated Trask Industries, in Spain, a company that was highly suspected of experiencing a kind of deadly serum on humans, but also on the enhanced people ‘threat’. 

While he was undercover in the offices, you were the one who worked with the scientists. First, because you loved science and, second, because your Spanish wasn’t fluent yet. After a few months, you discovered all of the files about the experiments: who, when and why. 

Phil decided to attack the facility while a gala was organized in the name of the company. This was a great idea. The plan: enter the scientific section, take down any threats, destroy the labs and call for backups to arrest the others.

“Here.” You pointed at the building you used to work as ‘Angelina Clarkson’, your alter ego.

You stepped inside the scientific reserve, Phil followed you closely behind as he watched your back. You were half way to the reserve where all the bottles of the poison were kept when a ‘colleague’ called you.

You turned your head to your left and saw the man, standing in his lab coat. He frowned when he noticed S.H.I.E.L.D.’s logo on your (color) fitted suit.

"Miss Clarkson, what are you doing here?" He took something from his pocket and you put a hand on your back to grab a knife. "Angelina, I'm not going to ask again."

He took a gun pointed it at you, when you were about to throw your knife, Phil shot at your “colleague’s” legs from behind and pushed him to lock him in a small empty room of the lab.

“Thanks.”

You took all the files and the bottles you could put in a bag for the Sandbox: it was a S.H.I.E.L.D. research facility located in Africa, specializing in the handling and study of hazardous materials.

You grabbed the bag and left in the hall where six guards of the company were waiting for you. You took the knives on your back, played with it between your fingers and ran into one of them.

You pinned her to the floor and stabbed her. While the two others locked their arms around your stomach, you elbowed one of them and turned to punch the other in the face. While he felt you ran and jumped over him to stab the other in the stomach and pinned him on the floor.

Phil on the other side was fighting the two other guards in the hall of the company.

You ran to the last one and jumped to wrap your legs around his neck; you turned your body and fell to take him down. While he tried to get up, you kneeled and stabbed his thighs.

"Jackson, our cover is blown up!" Phil pressed his earpiece.

 _‘I know. I'm currently fighting them.’_ You heard your ex fight through your earpiece.

You took the bag, jumped from the stairs and searched for him in the south exit with Phil.

"Do you need a hand?" You ran towards Brent.

"Well, it's not a bad idea."

There were eight guards fighting with your ex, and, now, Phil.

You thought of using your powers, but you couldn't. You promised to yourself to use them only when it was in an extreme case… and, here, it wasn’t.

You took your gun from the belt around your thigh and shot two of them, in the legs. Then a big one kicked your hand causing your gun to fall on the ground.

You also kicked the gun from his hands and punched his face. He caught your other hand with his, instead, almost crushing it. Then he chose to punch you in the stomach and closed his hand around your throat to lift you from the ground. His eyes were as cold as ice as he squeezed tighter, you scratched at his arm trying to breath. 

After a few seconds, you kicked him between his legs. As he released the pressure you fell down. You punched his stomach and grabbed the knives in your belt to stab him in the sides.

"Yeah, life can be a real bad bitch sometimes." You whispered into his ear.

You watched Phil fighting with two men when a third one came from behind and closed his arm around your neck. You used your knife to stab his leg. He lost his grip, but got up and kicked you in the face. You fell down and you quickly rolled up. You took his arm to turn it on the wrong side and knocked him out with a headbutt accompanied by an elbow to the throat.

"Here is Agent Coulson.” He placed a finger on his earpiece as he shot at the last man. “Send backup. Do you copy?"

 _‘Copy that.’_ Agent Garrett answered. _‘Ten minutes and we arrive.’_

You ran to Phil and turned to see your ex knocking the rest out.

"Long day, huh?” You panted and Phil laughed. “Why don't we just take a day off? Have a drink and enjoy the civilian life."

“Already giving up?”

“Never.” You winked and slid your knives in your belt.

“Okay. I’ll go back to the North Exit.” Phil left and Brent came back to you.

You coldly glanced at each other. “Good job.”

You turned your head and one of the security guys, on the ground, lifted his hand with a gun. You pushed Jackson behind you and before the guy could shoot, you created in a swift move with your hand, a wall of ice between you and him. All the bullets blocked into the ice.

You turned around and Brent seemed confused or shocked. Of course he knew about your powers, but he has never seen you in action. He didn't say anything and left the building, probably searching for some other guys.

While you waited for the backup you grabbed the bag and took down several agents on your way to exit the building. You saw two Quintets landing in front of you; Garrett's team entered the building to finish the job. You gave him the bag and took a seat on your team’s Quinjet.

"WHAT THE HELL, STARK?” Brent yelled when he entered. “WHY DID YOU DO THIS?"

"I SAVED YOUR LIFE, YOU PIECE OF SHIT!” You stood up and came closer to him. “THAT'S WHAT I DID! USUALLY PEOPLE DO THANK EACH OTHER."

"I didn't need your help." He calmed down and you laughed with sarcasm.

"Really, Jackson?! That guy was about to shoot you in the back! If I wasn't there you'd be dead, ok? I said I'll use my powers in extreme cases and it was one!"

"I could’ve saved my own ass!"

"How? You have eyes on your back now? Didn't know that. Oh, no, wait; it's just your damn hurt ego!" You smirked. “You know, if I was like you, I’d let you die. But I’m better than you.”

"Stop acting childish!"

"Then stop being this evil faceless government tool bag!"

"I just follow the rules. That's my job."

"Rules are made to be broken sometimes!" You clenched your fists. "I had your back! Remember? We are a team. I wouldn’t have risked losing my job for not having saved you. You’re not worth it! I don’t expect you to save my life because I don’t trust you." You walked to the ramp. "You know what? Just stay out of my way and it’ll be better for you."

“Enough!” Phil came next to you. “I’m sick of you two arguing! We are a team.”

“That’s what I was reminding him.”

“I don’t care if you had a thing together or anything like that!” Phil pointed at you and your ex. “That’s exactly why relationships have to be avoided in our business!”

“Then, what do we do?”

“We won’t continue like this, Y/N.” Phil took a file from his bag and threw it on your seat. “I reported what has happened in the team during your last mission in Portugal, last week. I had a meeting with Hill and we found some good solutions to calm down everyone.”

“What do you propose?” Brent crossed his arms over his chest.

“ _You_ get back with your former S.O., Garrett. You’ll work as a team along with Agent Ward.”

“What about me?”

"Y/N, we have other plans for you. You'll join STRIKE Team, mainly the Delta one. They are, currently, on a mission in Budapest, but when they come back you'll work with them from now on. End of the discussion."

"With Barton and Romanoff?" You swallowed and Phil nodded with a small smile, he couldn’t hide his pride. "But they are clearance level 6, when I'm 5."

"Oh, I almost forgot. You are level 6 now." Then Phil left the Quinjet to talk to Garrett.

When it was Brent’s turn to leave the Quinjet, you stayed in the middle of it, thinking about the big news. You were about to work with Agent Barton and Agent Romanoff… these two were the young **living legends** at S.H.I.E.L.D.

You couldn’t help but do a small dance of victory when you read the file about them, the one Phil gave you before he left.


	8. Memories - (Peggy Carter x Reader)

Warning: Slight Agent Carter spoilers (season one).

_January 2008 - Family & Nursing Care Inc, Washington D.C._

You were visiting Peggy for the first time since her children put her in a rest home, they thought it was better for her to go there. She was strong, but she needed some rest after a whole life travelling around the world, being an S.S.R. and S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. 

"Something troubles you. What is it?"

You were sitting with her under the veranda.

"I’m waiting for my new team to come back. I know if Hill put me in this team means she knew I'd be great with them. I'm just wondering how it will go between us. Barton and Romanoff always formed the perfect team and they are best friends. I don’t know if I’ll adapt."

She chuckled. "Y/N, why are you always so dramatic? Sometimes you are like your father and sometimes you remind me of Steve when you doubt about yourself!"

"I don’t doubt at all, Peg. I know my value. Yeah, I'm a badass fighter. They better get along with my personality because, I swear, I won't change a thing about myself."

"There you are, Y/N. I heard about your fights and trust me; you are _bloody_ fantastic, just like them! Besides, having you on a team is always good because you always have fun."

“I don’t think I’m as good as them. Are you alright?” You laughed with her and took her hand. "But I learned from the best." You smiled. “I always wondered how you fitted in a time where we didn’t want women to take responsibilities.”

“Here's what I learned: compromise where you can. Where you can't, don't, even if everyone is telling you that something wrong is something right." She put a hand on your shoulder. "Even if the whole world is telling you to move, it is your duty to plant yourself like a tree and say 'no, you move'."

“Noted. I’m sure I’ll remember it at some point.” You looked around you. “It’s cute, here.”

“Yes, if you are an old woman.” 

You rolled your eyes. "Anyway, now let's talk about my favorite story... the Second World War!" She just sighed. "Oh, come on Peggy, please. I love when you talk about that."

"Alright. I've got some photos from the Howling Commandos in my nightstand I didn't show you. Could you bring them to me, please?"

You nodded and ran to her room. Once you found the photos, you got back to the veranda and gave them to Peggy.

She always avoided the WWII subject with you when you grew up. She enjoyed talking about that, but it always brought her pain more than anything else.

"You're right. I've never seen them." You took one from her hand; it was your young father smiling while he was shaking hands with Colonel Philips. This made your day; it was crazy how Tony looked like him. You took another one and saw Captain Steve Rogers with Dum Dum Dungan and Sergeant James Barnes, the rest of the Commandos was behind. "Gosh, Peggy! Why do they look like models? I mean, look at Rogers and Barnes, they were damn handsome, especially the Captain. We need more men like them in our century, now."

"Well, my time is gone. The spotlights are on you now, darling. I hope you'll find someone like them. The most courageous men I've met, especially Steve." She seemed to remember everything about him while she was staring at the photo.

"How did you move on?"

"I don't know. It must be silly, but when Edwin gave me the last sample of Steve's blood after the war, I felt like I could save him. I had to protect this like my own life." You could see the sadness in her eyes; she held the tears that formed in her eyes. "Soon, I realized I had to let go and say goodbye, so I spilled the sample over the Brooklyn Bridge as a last tribute."

"It must have been so hard. I mean let go of your love."

"The moment I met him I knew he was special. I didn't care if he was skinny or not, his strong personality blew my mind." She paused and looked at another photo with her husband and her two children. "But I finally moved on and met a new man. I felt love again and he made me extremely happy. He always knew Steve would have a special part in my heart and he accepted it."

"Your husband was amazing.” You smiled. “I don’t know if I could handle it. When, you know you won’t win that part of his heart." You took another photo of Captain Rogers; he was alone with a huge smile curled on his face. "I wish I knew the Captain, he seemed pretty awesome... I'm kidding, he surely was. Just take a look at his butt." You burst into laughter with her, which lightened the whole mood.

"I don’t know if he would've liked you.” As she laughed, you raised your eyebrows. “Don’t look at me like that. You are strong, but you act sassy sometimes... Definitely a Stark!"

“Who cannot love us? We’re way too irresistible for this world.”

“Y/N, your Stark is showing.”

****

After hours of talking about everything, you left Peggy in her room and got back to your apartment. You jumped on your bed and sighed heavily. You loved these moments with her, you laughed at the moment she told you about your father flirting with a woman at his Mansion in LA. When he tried to kiss her, the girl pushed him in the pool and left the house in a hurry.

Your favorite story was the moment he met Maria, your mother, in the early sixties. She was much younger than him, she pushed him away after months of flirting, but he didn't give up. After all, Tony and you, were stubborn like him. He changed to prove his true love for her; he became more serious and left his playboy life behind him. That's how he won her heart. Since that moment he had all eyes on her 'till the very end. It always made you smile.

_*"Your father is the best part of my heart. But Tony and you are the best part of me. Remember we will always love you, no matter where we are and what we do. You bring us joy, Y/N." You hugged your mother and kissed her cheek._

_"I love you too mommy." You looked up at her. "Where is daddy?"_

_"He's right there. I want a big hug from my angel." You ran towards your father, he lifted you from the ground to spin you around and hug you. "I have something for you. I know you have quite an obsession with my job during the war, which is bizarre for your very young age. So, I brought you something about the friends with whom I used to work."_

_"What is it?" He gave a teddy bear with a WWII army uniform. "Thank you daddy. I love you!" He lowered himself and you kissed his cheek._

_"I love you too Y/N/N. Anything for my Princess." You ran to your room, played with your bear the whole evening and fell asleep with it.*_


	9. STRIKE Team: Delta - (Clint x Reader x Natasha)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter inspired by AoS (1x03) :-)
> 
>  
> 
> Quick note on the two chracters mentionned:
> 
> Ian Quinn is an American-born scientist, an industrialist, and the owner of Quinn Worldwide: vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/m…
> 
> Dr. Franklin Hall is a Canadian physicist and former asset for S.H.I.E.L.D.: vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/m…
> 
> I hope you enjoy this part of the series.  
> Next one coming on next Wednesday. ;-)
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own any Marvel chacracter and I don't own you... obviously.  
> So SORRY if there's any mistake. ^.^

  _February 2008 - Ian Quinn's garden party, Byron Bay, Australia_  
  
 _'Y/N/N, Tasha. Target in sight, and he is moving. Right behind the tall guy.'_  
  
"Copy that." You both said.  
  
Since you joined the team everything went quickly well between you. You got immediately along with Nat and Clint; at their sides you improved your already impressive skills.  
  
Today was another undercover mission, an easy one. It consisted to get a scientist, Dr Frank Hall, to S.H.I.E.L.D. HQ. He left his work at the University of Cambridge to be hired by Quinn Worldwide: a huge multi-national conglomerate that was on your radar for bad reasons.  
  
 _'Y/N, go find Quinn and distract him. Clint and I are going to get Dr Hall and leave.'_  
  
"On my way." When you saw your personal target, Ian Quinn, you seductively walked towards him, playing with your (f/c) leg split gown. You took a glass of champagne from a waitress and your best British accent with a confident tone. "Ian Quinn. I'm your last minute party crasher." You reached out your hand. "Angelina Clarkson." He shook your hand firmly.  
  
"Oh. Wow. It's great to meet you." Quinn turned to the guests he was talking earlier. "Everyone here, this is Miss Clarkson a former member of Trask Industries. They are a group of engineers I used to work with. But I left before my secret was out in public."  
  
You raised your eyebrows. "Actually, we are scientists... but I still don't know why you left us."   
  
"We used to think more freedom of information, less government infringing on everyone's rights. And that blew away when S.H.I.E.L.D. came to take down your facility in Spain. Anyway, I'm a fan of your work."  
  
"That explains the invite. This is a tough party to get into."  
  
"Not as hard to get into as the encrypted back channel you contacted us through to request the invite."  
  
"That's my way to approach a busy man." You winked and sipped from your drink.  
  
"You've got to show me how you did that. I mean, if you sign on." Quinn put a hand on your arm. "I've been known to turn a few black hats into white hats, not just for vulnerability analysis, but for very creative thinking, and I need someone new, someone young."  
  
"Here for five minutes and already offering me a job?"  
  
"Well, I didn't invite you here for your pretty face. I didn't know you had a pretty face. So, yes, I want to hire you before someone else snatches you up."  
  
You came closer to his ear and whispered, "let's just continue this somewhere more private."  
  
"This way."   
  
Quinn put a hand on your back and led you inside the house to a living room overlooking the pool. As he sat on a couch you closed the doors behind you and turned to him. You opened your purse to put on your favorite red vintage lipstick: _102 Sweet Dreams._  
  
"I hope you don't find me forward." You whispered and sat next to him, legs crossed.  
  
He smirked and sipped from his glass. "Well, I'm not the judging type."  
  
"I know you are working with a certain Franklin Hall." You played with the collar of his shirt.  
  
"Why? You are interested in him?"  
  
 _'Y/N/N, we can't find him anymore.’_ Clint informed you. _‘Get some information.'_  
  
"I want to talk to him...” You sat on Quinn’s lap, this time, and put your hands on his shoulders. “Let's make this a game. You seem like you might like games. You don't have to tell me anything. You just have to look at me."  
  
"Sweetheart, I don't have Hall here at the party, but down at my laboratory."  
  
"Can you tell me where?" You put your hand on his cheek and bit your lower lip.  
  
"Behind the garage.”  
  
"I have some friends who would be very interested in working with him."   
  
He, then, crashed his lips on yours, but the sudden bold action made you pull away.  
  
"Who are interested?" He asked while he slowly closed his eyes.  
  
"S.H.I.E.L.D." He looked at you confused and then fell asleep. "From Peggy Carter, with love." You stood up, grabbed your purse and left the villa.  
  
 _'Great job, Stark. We got him.'_  
  
"I think I'll need a drink after that." You spotted something in the party; more bodyguards around the guests were looking at you. "Three bodyguards are following me. Very big ones, I might need a hand... or four. And that's not an understatement." You whispered.  
  
 _'Roger that'_  
  
You took the corner to walk near the poolside just to be sure if they were after you. And you were right.  
  
"Excuse me, do you have a light?" You turned to one of them. He grabbed a lighter from his pocket and reached out his hand to give it you. When you saw Natasha and Clint arriving behind the others, you took the opportunity to attack.  
  
You swung back around and gave him a fast and powerful roundhouse kick in the ribs. He grabbed your arm and flipped you over him. You hit the cold marble and felt a harsh pain in your lower back. As you got up he went down to sweep, but you back flipped and regained your balance in a swift move with your high heels on.  
  
"Show off!" Clint laughed while he kicked ‘his’ bodyguard.  
  
Natasha kicked ‘her own’ in the back, but he didn't bother to return fight with her… he continued with you, as she was fighting with yours.  
  
"Hey, that was my guard!" You elbowed Nat’s bodyguard on the side.  
  
"You're not one to share, huh?" She kicked him in the neck.  
  
"Last time my man thought he could be shared with another woman I almost killed them both."  
  
You grabbed the two mini knives you had hidden in your garter and ran back to the bodyguard. You punched and kicked him until you could kneeled and stabbed his sides. As you got up, you jumped to kick his jaw. You just wanted Quinn to know what happened when you left him in the living room.  
  
You put the knives back in your garter and turned to see your teammates, who had already knocked the others out with class and style, smiling at you.  
  
Clint slowly came to you and then pushed you in the water of the pool.  
  
You immediately emerged from the water and gasped. "Damn, Barton! What the hell?!"  
  
"Consider that as was my welcome gift in our team." He laughed in your face, tapping his thighs.  
  
"After our sixth mission together?!" You looked down at yourself, still in the water. "A Versace. You ruined my Versace gown. I may not be Natasha, but I swear there will be a vengeance."  
  
"You are rich Stark!" He ran a hand through his hair still laughing. "Ok, come here." He reached out a hand to yours. You firmly took it and pulled him in the water with you!  
  
"My only Armani tuxedo!"  
  
“Oops." You splashed him with more water.  
  
"Come on kids.” Nat rolled her eyes. “We have to get back to the Quinjet before more men arrive. Dr Hall is already waiting there."

                                                              *****************************************  
  
  _Two hours later - The Roadhouse, Byron Bay, Australia_  
  
You were sitting at the bar with Clint on your left and Natasha on his.  
  
"Mission is a wrap." He said and you all sipped from your beers.  
  
"If it wasn't for Y/N." Nat winked and you smiled.  
  
"She just kissed a guy with her sleep-inducing lipstick back from the 40's."  
  
"That lipstick gave us time to escape." You nodded at Natasha’s affirmation.  
  
"I think I had a hallucination or did you just compliment a colleague?"  
  
"Oh, she's not a colleague, but our friend."  
  
"Sometimes women have feelings, Clint.” You laughed. “Anyway, I saved your asses and _Quinn_ kissed me."  
  
"Excuse me? We saved yours from the bodyguards."  
  
You tapped his chest. "No hard feelings, dude."  
  
He chuckled. "Did you just call me 'dude'?"  
  
"Yeah. Got it, you prefer Legolas or Robin Hood. That's it."  
  
He blinked at you then at Nat. "Did- did she just?"  
  
"Oh, yeah, she did. She was made to be part of this team." Natasha tapped his shoulder and raised her glass. "To friendship. Even though I used to think, in our business, it was impossible to be friends."  
  
"To friendship."


	10. War - (Natasha Romanoff x Reader) 1/2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a rewrite of AoS 1x07. :-)

_April ~ September 2008 - Republic of Georgia, Europe/Asia_

“We need to get closer to the Georgian border’s line.” Natasha yelled at the pilot because of the bombs exploding under the plane.

“Once we jump, you get the hell out of here!” You sat at the door, ready to jump.

Agent Hand sent you to Georgia, Eastern Europe to prevent a war with Russia. Politic was your thing, but S.H.I.EL.D. gave you two missions. First: they wanted you there to protect their agents and scientists, at any cost. You flew with the Quinjet on April and everything came fast: the first threats between the countries, the first arrivals of militaries.

There was one thing that caught your attention while you were fighting Russian militaries near their border, in July. You saw some Stark Industries weapons on their side, including the Jericho missile. Tony couldn't sell this, he may have made a big part of his fortune on the weapons, but he simply couldn't support any side there. The situation was too delicate.

You eventually managed to send a signal to S.H.I.E.L.D., after three months away from the world’s news, to destroy the Jericho missile before any enemies could use it against you.

Four months in Georgia and your first mission was successively completed between fights and covers. Every scientist and agent there got back to the U.S. and didn't lose their research, except for two of them: you discovered these agents were kept hostages in South Ossetia where you headed to with Natasha.

After that, during a month you infiltrated a Georgian army facility where you made contact with Uri Dubrovsky. This man gave you information about an extremely dangerous weapon that confirmed your second mission there.

This mission wasn't that easy: you had to disable the weapon called the Overkill Device that a South Ossetia separatist group had built, intending to use it in the following days to declare their independence from Russia and Georgia. You knew you hadn't enough time to evacuate the country without fighting. You didn't know if there would be an extraction team; you had to do it on your own. It was your most dangerous mission: during a war.

Dubrovsky flew you anonymously near the Republic of South Ossetia border where the conflict was at its high. This little state was between two fires: Russian and Georgian.

You jumped from the plane using your ice form to fly: fortunately for you, you designed your suits and a part of your casual undercover clothes that you were currently wearing to support any change of temperature: extreme heat and extreme cold.

"Nat, time is not on our side." You almost yelled through your earpiece and landed next to her. “Do you have a plan?”

“We need to steal this.”

"Already done."

You drove for an hour until you parked the car in front of a bar in the middle of nowhere.

Natasha sighed when you looked at her, "Y/N/N, you are a terrible driver."

"I'm not a terrible driver; the road has a problem with me. That's not my fault." You rolled your eyes. "We can't continue with this car anyways. Too American. What's next?"

"We come in the bar and gently ask if they can get us across the border near the separatists’ group base. Hopefully we’d disable the weapon before they use it and find the two agents."

You stepped out of the car and followed Nat inside the bar. There were twenty men watching a football/soccer match on TV. When you came in, they all turned to you. You stopped in front of the old man behind the counter and Nat asked him vodkas in Georgian for her and you.

"Can you ask what beers do they have on tap?" You tried to relax the atmosphere, but the men around pulled out their guns. “Oh, crap. Too soon?” You grabbed a remote from your pocket and clicked the button underneath.

Then the television abruptly stopped with the electricity and everyone growled.

"I have a plan." You whispered to Tasha. "Me vits’i, rogor sheket’eba elek’troenergiit’."

{I can fix the electricity for you}

"T’u datovon es unda gaaket’os, mashin ik’neb t’k’ven pouriez dakhmareba." Natasha shrugged with a small smirk. "T’it’oeuli momsakhureba."

{If you let her do it, then you could help us too [...] This is a good deal.}

“Okay, misses.” An old brunette woman came from the back of the bar with a strong accent. “But if one thing goes wrong then, you are dead.”

You literally had you head backwards. That was because you had to fix the electricity generator that was under the bar. One of the guys volunteered to assist you by taking your feet so that your body was upside down. Whilst you tried to repair the generator, two men were holding Natasha, in case you tried to fool them.

"Okay. Enough." You almost hit the generator with your head. "Load to the left, Vladimir." The sudden movement was too fast. "Gentle. That's it. Okay." You were with your turn screw opening the box. "Can I get a little more light down here, Martha?" You asked the boss.

"Of course, milaya." Martha, the old brunette, said and then more light came from above.

"Thank you." After a few seconds, you finally fixed the problem and the electricity came back. Everyone cheered up. Vladimir lifted you from the floor. They were all happy when you stood up. "It's nothing. It was very easy. Really. I'm just a simple woman."

Martha, the boss, giggled. "Get this woman a drink."

"Oh, no. Here we go." You drank the very strong shot. “Umm, salty.”

Natasha freed herself and came next to you. "So… let's talk business."

****

An hour later you were at the back of a Georgian military truck that was driving you through the border.

"You fixed the electric generator and gave them two million rubles to get us out of here alive! We need to work on your negotiation skills, Y/N." Natasha chuckled and loaded her gun.

"Did you forget where I came from? Two million rubbles are nothing in my bank account. That's why I don't need to work on my negotiation skills... that are perfect." You smiled. "Anyway, you should be thanking me. Without this plan, we’d be in prison, tortured because they'd discovered we are American spies.” You took a small device from your pocket. “I shorted the circuit breaker with my localized E. M. P. when you were talking to your friend."

She didn't expect that. "Really?"

This device you designed for your own missions could cause an electromagnetic pulse or a quick burst of energy that disabled all nearby electronics and circuitry. A localized E.M.P could be an effective countermeasure against electronic surveillance or high-end security systems.

"Yes and the plan worked because we're over the border now. Aren't we?"

The truck abruptly stopped and you looked at each other.

"Stay here, I'll check it out." Sound of guns echoed and Natasha immediately sat back next to you. "Okay. Now, I have a plan."

You heard a car parked and three soldiers came towards the back of the truck; you threw two gas cylinders at their feet and turned back while Natasha shot at the cylinders causing an explosion.

You jumped out and hit the third one in the face with his rifle. A car with more Russian soldiers arrived: Nat took out her guns and shot at six of them, which left four soldiers that you shot at. You took a smoke bomb from your belt and threw it in their car. A thick red smoke spread around and blinded them.

This gave you enough time to run and grab two knives from your belt: you gave the first soldier a knee strike right in the chest and stabbed his back. He fell down on the dry ground. Then, you felt a man from behind elbowing your right side; he turned you around and punched you in the stomach.

The movements made you take a few steps away: you jumped and kicked him right in the face. You fell and stayed on the ground to sweep him with your right leg. You straddled him and pulled out a knife, but before you could do anything he gave you a head-butt. You dropped your knife and rolled back. You ran back to him, jumped to do a headscissors takedown and finally stabbed his stomach.

A last jeep with even more soldiers parked next to you; you took your bag back from the truck and ran. No more time for fighting, you stuck to the plan: find the weapon. Once Tasha was finished with the two remained soldiers she looked up at you.

"I'm already moving!” You yelled while running towards the mountains. “Hurry up!"

You have ran for hours until you were in the middle of a building site.

"Here." She pointed at an enormous drainage pipe. “The sun is setting, so it’s good for us.”

You sat inside it, in front of her, looking at the nature and enjoyed a peaceful silence… for the first time since you arrived in April, exactly four months ago. Four months, in the middle of nowhere, where you didn’t know what was happening around the world, or to your family.

“This Overkill Device, the weapon we are searching for, creates sonic vibrations powerful enough to trigger weapons from a great distance.” You looked at her, “anything from the missiles on a helicopter to a nuclear warhead sitting on its silo.”

“Well, that explains why they wanted two people there, so that they couldn’t use it against a bunch of weapons held by a bunch of agents.” Natasha kept looking at the dark sky.

"Why do you think S.H.I.E.L.D. sent us and not some people else?" You asked after the sun had totally set. “I mean we are just level 6.”

"I don't know. They said they needed agents like you and me."

You opened your bag and took the sandwich the boss from the bar gave you earlier.

"Is that a sandwich?" The redhead whispered.

"Martha made it. Here you can have half." You gave her the sandwich, but she just threw it in the water six feet next to you. You gasped whilst you looked at it. "What. The. Hell?"

"There are dogs tracking us and you bring a sandwich?"

"There was no meat. Just a vegetarian one. I know my job!" You paused, "I can't believe you just did that."

"This is a mission. Not a picnic." She grumbled.

"Oh, I'm well aware it's not 'a picnic', Agent Romanoff." You whisper-shouted because of the dogs’ barks far away from you. “I’ve been in espionage as long as you… And, now you've destroyed the world's most dangerous sandwich. Congrats."

“Let’s talk about something else because this won’t go anywhere.”

“Okay.” You kept looking at the water and the curiosity came to you. “Do you have someone? I mean, since I know you, you always avoided the subject, even when we were on Clint’s farm to help Laura with Cooper.”

She laughed, “I don’t need someone for the moment.”

“What’s funny?”

“I don’t have time for this.” She smiled, “what about you? I saw guys flirting with you at HQ, but you always pushed them away.”

“Oh, me? I have no one. I don’t trust men anymore. I mean in love.”

She frowned, “why?”

“Because I had two boyfriends who were two real douchebags! One was too focused on his future career and the other cheated on me for three years with several girls. These two were my long time relationships. Then I had a few dates with some guys, but they weren’t proper boyfriends… they were all the same. Real jerks.” You paused and looked at her. “As a spy there’s no time for love and I’ve been hurt because of men. Since then I decided to not be fooled by any of them. Love is a game and I don’t play childish games.”

“Welcome to my world.”


	11. War - (Natasha Romanoff x Reader) 2/2

_September 2008 - Republic of South Ossetia, Asia_

You spent the night, inside a camouflage blanket, on the dry South Ossetian ground on the main road to the compound you were trying to infiltrate. The same compound with the weapon inside. The Overkill Device.

You turned your body to your right and felt the heat hit your skin. You slowly opened your eyes and looked at the sunny sky while Natasha was on your left, resting peacefully.

You slept in a MAG Pouch: it was a piece of stealth technology for the purposes of access and infiltration. You designed it, and it was the first time you used it in the field.

"Good day to be a rat." You kept looking at the sky as Natasha woke up. "I mean, there you are. Minding your own business, spreading filth and disease, scavenging for grub worms or rotten fruit. When lo and behold. You see it… a vegetarian sandwich."

She turned her head and looked at you. "Y/N."

You just closed your eyes. "With just a hint of pesto."

"You’re as worst as Stark.”

You turned your body and looked at her. “Sarcasm. Being funny on the field is always good."

“You know, I’ve been thinking about what you said last night. I know a guy, Reed Richards-“

“He’s with Sue Storm.” You paused, “disable the weapon and then find me a date.”

“I’m multitasking.” A few seconds later the vibrations of a vehicle, approaching you, hit the ground. "You feel that? A truck." She paused. "It’s coming. Come on, zip up the MAG Pouch." 

You closed the stealth technology and to be stuck inside. Once it passed over you, the camouflage technology adhered itself to the underside of the truck.

Natasha looked at her watch, which was also a digital map and Dubrovsky, your first contact, was right. The truck was driving you to the Overkill Device compound, which was now easier to infiltrate. Once it stopped you opened the M.A.G. pouch, rolled over and quickly ran to hide behind a wall while two militaries left the cabin.

"Okay, let's go, Tasha." You saw a door and ran to it. “We have to find the agents.”

The redhead took a S.H.I.E.L.D.’s signal extraction from her pocket and put it on the floor, next to the door. "I'll signal it when we are done." You nodded and you were about to open the door when she stopped you. "Hey, don't you use your thermal vision?"

"Yeah, it can be helpful." You closed your eyes and looked through the wall of the building. “Okay, we have two guards behind the door with automatic weapons.” You looked up. “There are more upstairs, but nobody around what looks like the device.”

She opened the door; you came in and saw the guards in front of you. You pulled out a knife from your belt and threw it to a guard’s leg.

You ran to him and a dance of kicks engaged, he avoided all your movements. You bent down to punch him in the stomach. You put your right leg on the back of his neck and jumped with your left leg using your weight to smash his head on the ground. You rolled up to see Natasha kicking the guy’s ass like she never did.

You fought through the compound and took several stairs to stop in front of a small and dark room where were handcuffed to chairs the two agents you were looking for.

“Agent Bailey? Agent Nelson? We are S.H.I.E.L.D.’s agent.” You ran to her and Natasha freed the other at the same time. “You okay?” You asked and they both nodded.

“Can you walk and carry weapons?” Natasha turned to Nelson. “Because we’ll need you.”

“Yeah, but you have to be quick. The guards will be back in ten minutes.”

Your friend gave them two riffles you stole from the guards and asked them to watch your backs from the stairs while you would disable the device.

You walked through the rooms and Nat reached a hall with pipes connected to a core against a wall. The locate device was bigger than you thought, huge pipes were around it. (http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/marvelcinematicuniverse/images/d/dc/Overkilldevice.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20131116050028)

"Y/N, it's supposed to be here,” Natasha whispered as you walked in. “Your turn, engineer."

"The thing must be stronger to be protected this way." you knocked at the device. You tried to determinate where its core was located; you looked inside the hole in the weapon. "Core must be inside here, that's what's important." You looked up, “the piping around it just serves to amplify and direct the sound to trigger munitions from a distance."

"It doesn't look like it could take a jet out of the sky."

You took an unscrew you stole from the bar the previous day. "Well, you should know by now, Nat, that looks can be deceiving." You unscrewed every screw around the little hole. "I need help this might be heavy." She helped you opened the door and put it next to her.

You looked inside the protection and saw the orangy-yellow core of the Overkill Device, there were all of kind of power cables everywhere around it. (http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/marvelcinematicuniverse/images/9/96/Turn_Turn_Turn_146.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/250?cb=20141001222011)

"Okay. This is gonna take a while."

She looked around, with her guns in her hands. "You have 10 minutes."

"I thought you'd say five." Carefully you unpowered every cable; one wrong move and the building could blow up with you inside. Fortunately for you as a trained spy you could handle the psychological pressure. "All right, it's almost done. Call the extraction team."

She frowned, “we're on our own. The extraction plan's a bust, they didn’t make contact yet."

You looked at her in confusion. "So?"

"Once you take that thing apart and I set off the remote beacon, we're on our own… you should go."

"What?! I was trained like you. I'm a fighter. I am every bit the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent that you are. If I’m on this team then it’s for a reason, Nat. We are a team. STRIKE Team."

“I know that. You don't have to prove anything. It’s just you have a brother and Coulson-“

“You have your friends as well. I’m willing to sacrifice my life for the greater good too.” You disconnected the last cable; “and I’m fucking starving.”

Nat took the remote from her pocket and pushed the button. "Okay, let's go. We need to slip out of here before they notice the device is powered down."

You took the weapon from its protection. "Got it." 

Then an alarm went on in the compound. “We need a new plan.”

“I can do something. The Overkill Device is designed to emit intense sonic vibrations that are capable of remotely discharging or destroying most conventional, combustion based guns as well as a wide range of explosive weapons." She looked at you confused and you rolled your eyes, "it means I can use this to disarm every guard on our way outside. I just need to connect the cables around the core."

"Are you sure this is gonna work?" Natasha asked you while you knelt to work on it.

"Yes. Well, theoretically.” You smiled, “life is better when you don’t how it will go, isn’t it?"

"New plan?" The agents Bailey and Nelson ran into you. “They are coming right at us.”

You looked at them. "Friendly reminder… I don't have the right tools with me.” You connected the last cable. “Okay. Finished." You powered the weapon when you heard an explosion on the rooftop. "What was that?"

"S.H.I.E.L.D. They are starting the attack. Come on, we don't have much time now.”

You ran, and jumped from the floor to hang on the footbridge upon you. A few guards surrounded Natasha and your colleagues in epic hand-in-hand fights.

"Y/N, we need a little help here."

You aimed at their guns and took out as many weapons as you could. It's like a gun, but smarter. The device created a small explosion inside the guns when you shot at them.

With no more weapons three men ran to Natasha and tried to fight her, but they were all knocked out easily. A fourth man arrived and pinned you to a ladder. Nat jumped from her spot, flipped the man to the ground and hit him with a stick she found on the ground.

You thanked her and all easily ran to the exit of the facility.

There was another explosion while you exited the building. You all looked around yourselves and saw nothing but more than ten men pointing their rifles at you while they walked up. Natasha pulled out guns from her belt around her thighs and you did the same.

"I said they needed agents like us." She said and you nodded. “We’ll need your powers.”

“Thought this day would never come.” You smiled and the agents’ eyes widened.

One of the men yelled something, but you couldn't hear because of the explosions and the planes flying around the facility. “Get down or I shoot!” The man repeated whilst he came closer and pulled out another gun. “We know you are Americans.”

“Vy mogli by sozhalet' ob etom,” Natasha smirked and all the men frowned. “Dover'tes' mne”   
{You could regret this […] trust me.} 

"I SAID GET DOWN ON YOUR KNEES AND DROP THE WEAPON NEXT TO YOU!"

The same man yelled and you dropped the bag, when Natasha pulled the trigger, he shot a bullet. In the same second you took your fire shape and stepped in front of her. The bullet crashed against your firing skin without coming through or wounding you. It melted.

You looked at him angrier than ever. "You really want us to get down?" He and his guys, in pure shock, didn’t move.

“Y/N, now!” The redhead assassin shouted.

You immediately got down on your knees and fire spread from your body to surround all the men in a trap. While they were blinded by the flames, they tried to shoot at all of you, but you protected yourselves by new flames, giving your colleagues time to shoot back at the guards.

“Clint will never believe me!” Natasha smiled when you shot two fireballs toward a man.

The reminding guards gave up on shooting at you, they surrendered and you got up.

When the explosions became deafening Natasha turned her head to see Phil’s plane shooting at another South Ossetien jet. It landed next to you and the ramp opened. The rest of the STRIKE team with Rumlow and Clint came out to go inside the building.

Hawkeye looked at you and the flames in confusion. “Dammit, I should’ve seen it.”

“Yep, you missed something.” You patted his shoulder and came inside the plane.

You gave the device to the scientists and sat in the pilot seat, without a word, until you landed on the American continent.

*****************************************

_Twelve hours later – The Triskelion, Washington D.C._

In the bathroom of the training room, you poured some fresh water to your face. You trained with Clint and let the anger leave your bodies as you gave all you’ve got into your fights.

You sighed when you looked at yourself in the mirror. You just wanted to collapse on your bed and sleep for real… with real comfy pillows. You just wanted to see your brother too. You haven't talked to him in five months.

“Y/N?" You heard Phil behind you. You turned around and walked to hug him.

“Thanks for sending a team back there.” You whispered.

"I told you, trust the system. I take care of my own. You did good." 

“I was trained by the best.” For the first time since you joined the agency, you doubted about your work. “But I had to kill people back there.”

"Hey, unfortunately, we can’t save everyone every time."

You just nodded and smiled. “I guess it comes with the job.”

“About that. Fury, Romanoff and I found you a nickname. You’re, now, known as (Y/SH/N).”

“Really?” You grinned and crossed your arms. “I was waiting for that day… (Y/SH/N), it sounds pretty good. I’ll get used to it.”

“I came to talk to you about something else, actually.” Phil paused and put a hand on your shoulder. “It’s about Tony and what happened to him since you left the US. He’s kind of a hero... or not. A lot happened, I’ll tell you everything.”


	12. Iron Brother - (Tony Stark x Sister!Reader)

_September 2008 - Press conference at Stark Industries, Los Angeles, CA_

While you flew to LA with Phil, he explained you everything that happened when you were in the field in Georgia. He told you what he knew about Tony's kidnapping, Obadiah Stane’s betrayal and the whole Iron Man suit your brother created with the Arc Reactor. You felt so guilty to have let him go through hell alone, you just couldn't believe it.

You had so many questions and you knew Tony would also have because you weren't there.

Eventually, Phil also told you about the events of Harlem with Bruce Banner: The Hulk and Emil Blonsky: Abomination, the creations of the U.S. army. At that moment you also felt like you lived in a cave for years.

Phil drove you to Stark Industries and parked. "Y/N, stay inside the car, I'll debrief your brother before you come in, ok?" You nodded and thought about what you were going to say.

When he finished working on every detail about the conference press following the attack at Stark Industries, Tony left in the conference room while you stepped in. You greeted Pepper, you missed her too. She became a friend to you after all those years working with your brother.

You watched the conference on TV along with Phil and Pepper next to you.

"You have to tell me more about Bahrain with Agent May and The Cavalry." You whispered to Phil, but he didn't answer and you turned your head to the screen.

_'The truth is... I am Iron Man.'_

Tony left the conference room with Rhodey behind and all the journalists tried to follow them, but Happy and the rest of the bodyguards easily stopped them.

When came back in the room you ran into your brother and hugged him. "I'm sorry, Tony! I'm so sorry!"

"What the hell, Y/N?!” He pulled away and looked at you with surprise. “Where were you?! I tried to contact you when I escaped, but your office told me you were stuck in Asia!"

"Yeah. I was in Georgia and South Ossetia because I was in a-"

"Sorry to interrupt, but your sister seemed very shocked by what happened.” Phil interrupted; you and Tony looked at him with your eyebrows raised. “I already met her with my organization when we were in Europe four months ago. Your sister worked there during the war between Russia and Georgia. She prevented a disaster with your weapons there."

"I thought it might be good for us to check on the field if there were our weapons on any sides. I was there for five months and I had no Wi-Fi or anything to contact you or the continent. So, when I got back in LA today, I saw what happened on TV."

"We’ll talk about this when we'll be home. Happy will drive us there." Tony came to Phil. "Thank you, Agent Coulson for what you did when you were in the company. Pepper told me about your gadgets and everything. We should work together in the future." They shook their hands and you mouthed a thank you to your mentor.

****

Once you arrived home and after you explained for the 100th time what “you did” in Asia, you poured a drink to Tony and one for yourself at the bar. 

"Listen, I was stuck in Eastern Europe and Asia, I couldn't even watch the news. I'm sorry you had to go through this alone when you were the one who always supported me. But S.H.I.E.L.D. was there to protect me. Now, I know why they didn’t want me to call you-"

"It wasn't your job to be there, Y/N… Technically, it is, but not when you are in danger! You should’ve been there with Rhodey and Happy. I knew I shouldn’t have given you this job.”

"I’m well, ok? And from what I heard, what I lived back there was pretty good comparing to what happened to you." You smiled sadly. "Do you want to talk about this?"

"There is a lot to know." He took a sip of his drink. 

He began to tell you everything about how he has been kidnapped, the Ten Rings held him as hostages with Ho Yinseen, a scientist, for three months. He showed you the mini arc reactor inside his chest that he built to protect his heart from the shrapnel caused by an explosion. And then he told you about how he designed his first suit armor, escaped, shut the company’s weapons manufacture and discovered Obadiah's plan to replace. Of course, he finished with the final battle between Iron Monger and Iron Man: epic!

“Is it even real?” You smiled, “I mean this the craziest thing I’ve ever heard.”

“C’mon, you’re talking about me.” He smirked and you rolled your eyes. “I missed you.”

“You too.” You kissed his cheek, "I need to see the suit! That sounds amazing."

"Let's go." He stood up and you followed him down the workshop. "J.A.R.V.I.S., show Y/N the first tests I made with the suit while I'll put on Mark 3."

"As you wish, Sir. Miss Stark, it's always a pleasure to have you back with us."

"Missed you too J."

You watched all the videos of the second suit on Dum-U. You got up to see the iron armor on the ground, next to Dum-E.

"Tony, what I don't get is how you can fly at high altitude. Because, with the iron suit there is a fatal potential build-up office that could occur, it’s the same with the pressurization." You lowered yourself to take a better look at it. "Or, if you improve the exo systems, you can reconfigure the shell metals. With titanium and go-" you turned around and saw Tony standing in front of you with his gold and hot red suit. You crossed your arms over your chest. "A little ostentatious. You're usually so discrete… I'm sure J.A.R.V.I.S. already told you."

"Indeed, Miss."

"Ok, now I want to fly. Take me with you."

"What?” He huffed, “no, I won't. Enough show for the day!"

You made your cute puppy eyes. "Please. Please... or I will tell Pepper about what happened when you were supposed to meet the French ambassador's daughter."

"Fine." He grumbled, “come here." He put his arm around your waist. "Hold on. At the count of three."

"Just fly already, bro!" Without another word, he lifted you off the ground and flew outside the garage. You looked down the mansion that seemed like an ant. “Woo!”

You laughed with him, of course, you could fly because of your abilities, but you've never really done it this way. You just felt free while he circled around Malibu in the afternoon.

"Hey, Y/N, what did you eat for lunch? Because you are heavier than what it seems."

"Shut it, Anthony and fly!" He hovered through the city, but soon you felt a bit dizzy and he landed back in the workshop. You sat on the floor and took your breath. "It's incredible."

"I think I need some rest after what I lifted." He sat on the ground with a dramatic sigh and you just threw your shoe at him. "I'm kidding, sis."

After a moment of silence you spoke up. "You are a hero, Tony! If you weren't there, who knows what Stane would’ve done with the weapons or the Arc Reactor?"

"I'm just not the hero type. Clearly.” He just shook his head. “I’m just a billionaire with a new toy. My mistakes don’t make me a hero."

"Who cares about your mistakes? That’s not who you are, we aren’t perfect and mistakes forge a personality. You are my hero and that's what matter.” You winked. “You are also Pepper's hero. You two are always flirting, come on, ask her out. You are Tony Stark."

“You’re right; she’s very nice, intelligent and beautiful.” He raised an eyebrow… showing off. "But she doesn't want to, because I'm her boss. I’m too fabulous, perhaps."


	13. Partners in Crime - (Clint Barton x Reader)

_October 2008 [Two weeks later.] - The Triskelion, Washington D.C._

You were sitting in Maria Hill’s office with Clint while you debriefed about your very last mission with him. The least you could say was that it was very annoying... I mean, yes, you are Y/N Stark, so the meetings always bothered you. But this one was on another level.

"Agents, we read your mission reports and I have to say, you did an amazing job. Thanks to you, we avoided a chemical attack against our country if you hadn't brought the biological weapon to us. It's now safe in the fridge behind a high level security wall." You smiled and Maria Hill paused while she threw the papers on her desk, “however, we also read that you, Stark, willingly used your powers when we specifically told you not to. All that because you let your feelings-"

"If I didn’t use them I highly doubt this mission would’ve been that successful." You cut her off and she frowned. "Oh, and is it also because of my feelings that you didn't tell me my _only_ brother was kept in a damn cave, in Afghanistan, for three months?" You kept your sarcastic smile while she made her favorite neutral face.

"I don’t remember giving you the permission to talk when I'm not finished."

"Do you know how it feels when your brother asks you why you didn't call him just once, when he lived the tragedy of his life?! I lied… to protect all of us!" You yelled and stood up.

“Mission is a wrap, you have to admit." Clint crossed his arms and also stood up.

“Listen,” you took a deep breath. “What I’m saying is I tried to get us out of here. That’s it.” 

"Hill, we all made mistakes in our careers.” The archer tried to keep his cool. “There is no need to blame anyone here!"

“I did what I had to and if I had to do it again… I would do exactly same. Orders or _not_.”

She stood up and crossed her arms, “Agent Stark, I think it’s finally time for you to fall in line.”

“If I were you, I wouldn’t get my hopes up, Commander Hill.” You muttered.

The deputy director gave you the permission to leave and you went out with Clint chuckling.

“That was incredible!" He gave you a high five while you walked together.

“Shit, I thought I was fired.” You laughed and stepped in the training room.

Since you came back from Malibu, you called Tony more often, you made sure he knew you’d be there after what happened. When you had the conversation about the Afghanistan’s events, you felt the need to tell him about your powers and your spy career. Because, obviously, he had to know… and you were planning to tell him, no matter what happens after.

After a moment, you walked, with a smirk, to Clint who prepared his arrows. “Teach me.”

“Nope.” He knew what you were talking about… you kind of pissed him off about it since you joined the team.

“Please, Clinton.” You made your puppy eyes. “You can’t say no to your friend.”

“Show me your powers once again and I give you one archery lesson.”

You grinned like a child and he chuckled, “yes!”

Then your phone rang inside your pocket to see Tony’s number written on the screen.

“Who is it?” Clint asked while he prepared his bow for you.

“My brother,” you turned off your phone. “Since I came back from South Ossetia he’s getting suspicious about my job. I thought I could handle it from here, but it’s more complicated.”

“Tell him about S.H.I.E.L.D.” He gave it to you with some arrows.

“I will, I don’t know when and I don’t know if Fury will be ok with it. I mean, he talked to Tony when we were at the Mansion last month, but he never mentioned the fact I’m a spy.”

“You just told Hill to kiss your ass, don’t act like you care about what the boss thinks.”

“Yep, you’re right. I don’t care about the rules.” You sighed and walked towards the targets.

You were in the middle of a S.H.I.E.L.D. training room with tons of different size of targets around you. When you prepared your hands on the bow, Clint came behind you to guide them while you turned your head to shoot him a death glare and smacked his hands.

“Calm down, (Y/SH/N).”

“Then don’t touch me, Hawkeye.”

“Then how will you learn?”

“Okay.” You nodded and he chuckled. The archer then placed his hands on your hips to move your body in the best angle to shoot at your target. “I swear if you lay a finger on-“

“Relax, you’re beautiful, but I’m married.” He placed his hand on yours to guide you. “You really need to see a man, though.”

You rolled your eyes with a small smile, “don’t be like Natasha.”

You aimed and released your arrow to see it flying to the wall… far away from your target.

“I thought it was easier when I saw you.”

“I make everything easier.” He crossed his arms and sighed, “you need to relax your shoulders.”

“I don’t need to relax.” You grabbed another arrow and aimed.

“Of course, you need to since I tell you. Who’s the expert here, huh?” You were about to shoot when Clint cried out in your ear. “Stop!”

“What?” You turned to him with your brows raised.

“You were about to shoot at the ceiling!”

“I wasn’t! You yelled in my ear, I jumped with surprise, so my hand moved!”

“Let me show you and shut up.”

Your friend came behind you to adjust your shoulders as well as your grip on the bow. He then showed you how to hold your arrow perfectly and held it back.

“Release when you ready.”

You let go of the string and the arrow flew straight to the heart of the target bullseye.

You clapped your hands, laughing. “Who’s the boss?”

“Certainly not you.” He ran when you threatened him with a new arrow.

For the next hours you practiced archery with Clint between successes and mostly fail, you end up giggling on the mats. You’ve broken two strings; you've hit your eye with the bow three times, in Clint's twice and finished by shooting some arrows on the wall behind you.

“I still want to see your powers... and I have the perfect idea.” He helped you up with his famous smirk. “Flame the arrow on and then shoot an ice blast before it reaches a wall.”

“Are you crazy?!”

“No, it’ll be fun.”

As you got into your stance, you took an arrow and positioned the bow like you learned or tried to. You snapped your fingers to shoot a flame at the projectile. You took aim before pulling back the string of your bow and letting go to shoot at the wall.

You watched as the projectile flew to the target, your face remaining with hope, you shot an icy blast, but the arrow touched the wall. Before your attack could stop the fire, it burned the whole wall and triggered an alarm as well as the fire sprinkler that poured its water on you.

“Damn!” You dropped the bow and turned to Clint who was laughing on the mats.

“STARK!” You could hear Maria Hill yelling from her office

You put your hands on your face. “Oh, man, we’re so fired.”

He stood up and looked above him. “Come with me.”

“Where?” You tried to cover you from the water dripping and he pointed at the ceiling. “You want to hide in the vents?”

“It’s the only option we’ve got. It’ll be fun.”

“Like burning a wall inside the most secure building in the world.” You wiggled your eyebrows with a smile. “I love my job.”

Clint then took a ladder and, giggling, you quickly climbed to open the air vents hatch. While you waited for him inside, he kicked the ladder and closed behind him.

“We could hide inside Phil’s office.” You whispered, “he’s in a mission with Mockingbird.”

“Go for it.”

You walked inside the metallic duct to where was supposed to be Phil Coulson’s office. As you reached your hiding spot, Clint opened the hatch and you both jumped to land on the floor… not without some giggles.

When you both stood up, you were welcomed by Maria Hill sitting by Phil’s table while two other agents from your STRIKE Team waited for you.

“That’s Barton’s fault.” You laughed while you tried to cover the wetness of your clothes.

“You two. In my office. Now!”

She got out of the room and you were escorted by your teammates through the gray hallways of the Triskelion to her office.

“Partners in crime?” Clint whispered to you and you smiled.

“Hell yeah.” You gave him another high five.

“What about Mario Kart after her speech?”

“Yep.”


	14. I Can Explain! - (Tony Stark x Sister!Reader) 1/3

_Christmas 2008 - Stark Mansion, Malibu, CA_

Today was Christmas Eve and you were spending it with Tony and Rhodey at a family dinner.

"So, Y/N, I’ve read your records and you didn't tell us you were also in Russia three months ago." Rhodey spat and an awkward silence literally froze the mood.

You threw him a glare and Tony turned his head whilst he was looking at his best friend.

"Well, Tony was so much occupied since he is, publicly, the Iron Man that I didn’t bother to tell him. Do you want to know more because we can finish this now?" You queried. 

“Yes, we could.” The newly graded Colonel snorted and put his napkin back on the table.

"Rhodey, why don’t you mind your own business? I don’t need you to act like the older brother when I already have one who is, by the way, trying to rule my life since what happened in Europe." You sighed and shook your head. “And… why? Why, now?”

"Because I asked him to do it." Tony looked at you, dead serious. "I just wanted to know what you were doing there."

“Really?” You just looked at him horrified by what you heard. "I'm not a kid, Anthony! I know how to handle myself. I told you what I did there!"

“You weren’t supposed to be here, Y/N.” He stood up, “there’s something weird in this story and you are hiding something. Since then, when I talked about it, you just avoided the topic.”

“Because you had your own problems. I’m here, alive, so why?”

"I just want to protect you. I've barely seen you since you graduated, ok? So, yes, I want to know why you put yourself in danger during a damn war! Our parents always told me to take care of you and that's what I am doing. Nothing more, nothing less."

"You're trying to make feel guilty, now?" You looked away and saw Rhodey checking his phone: the situation was too awkward, even for him. "I'm aware we haven’t talked like before. But I have a job, I'm a grown woman." You paused, and almost whispered. “You changed.”

"Maybe because a close friend of mine, who was also my colleague, betrayed me! He died because of his madness and jealousy!" He looked at his hands, "I might not be the ideal hero, but when it comes to my family and friends, I'm always there for them.”

"Y/N, he is your brother.” Rhodey added, “I know you since you’re a kid and I would do exactly the same to protect my only sister."

That's it. You felt guilty.

"I think I better I'll go to my room. It's better. Merry Christmas."

Tony sat down with a sad expression written on his face as you left the dining room and ran upstairs to your bedroom.

You slammed the door behind you and sat down on your bed. You just stared at the window and stayed like this; thinking of what he said. You thought about what you were hiding from him: your cover at Stark Industries, your real job and your enhanced abilities.

You couldn't sleep that night; you stayed awake and remembered all that happened the evening before. You would tell him about the powers you possessed and S.H.I.E.L.D. _*"I'm planning to tell Tony when I'll be ready. He has to know."*_ You would tell him **everything**.

****

When the sun rose, you went to the bathroom and took a cold shower. In your closet you willingly put on your new (color) training suit from S.H.I.E.L.D., the upgraded version of the one you used to wear at the Academy for your powers.

You went down to the kitchen and saw Tony having breakfast. When he looked up, he almost laughed. "Are you going on a film set or?" You tried to chuckle, but your throat was dry. "Y/N, about last night I can-"

"Don't. No need to. I understand why you did this and I can't blame you when you just want the best for me. What happened in Afghanistan changed you. But as I said you are my hero because you sacrificed yourself to protect us at the company.” You took a deep breath. "Besides, what you said made me think it was the right time to tell you something very important. Something you have to know."

You came in front of the table where he was sitting and ate a bite of his pancake.

"Y/N, tell me."

"You remember what happened when I was a kid. Dad always told me, I've accidentally been radiated by one of his dangerous devices while I was playing in the former lab of Anton Vanko at the company."

"Yes, but everything was alright when he checked. Right?"

You looked at your hands, "I used to think something was very wrong with me when it first happened."

"What happened?" His voice was no more than a worried whisper.

You looked at him and you read a mix of emotion through his brown eyes.

"I- I... In 1990 while you were studying at M.I.T., I was in LA for Christmas with the parents when I discovered I had some kind of enhanced abilities." Now he was clearly confused, you ignored it and continued. "I think it would be better if I show you. So, please don't get away from me when I'm done, ok?" He slowly nodded.

You snapped your fingers from your left hand, allowing a small flame to shoot up. You set your right hand in ice and looked up at him. You stopped and his jaw dropped.

He stood up and took a step away, shock written on his face.

"Tony. Please don't leave." You almost begged.

“It’s a trick?” You shook your head and his eyes widened. “What the hell? H- How could it be possible? No, it’s impossible.” He paused and turned around. “What happened to you?”

“I don’t know, actually.” You came in front of him. “It’s because of the lab, I guess. It changed me.”

He paced around the room with a hand on his forehead mumbling some things about how what he saw defied the laws of science… after a long moment he came back to reality.

"It’s all you can do?" You shook your head again and he sat down. "Show me."

You took a glass next to you, closed your eyes and froze it. Then you focused on the glass; with great heat from your hand, you thawed it, but the sudden change of temperature exploded the glass into a thousand pieces in your hand.

"It's nothing from what I can actually do. But, now, I need a clear sky."

****

Tony called Rhodey telling him he would try a new suit armor that was why he didn't want the army to go against him in the sky, like it happened in Afghanistan.

“J? Make sure nobody records what I’m going to do.” You ordered.

“As you wish, Miss.”

Once you got the green light from Rhodey, you came to the rooftop of the Mansion while Tony was in the living room staring at the bay window.

You ran as fast as you could and jumped from the roof, you were falling down, but when you put your arms alongside your body, it instantly suited up in fire. You started to fly around the mansion feeling the wind through your hair. Then you came to the window to stop in front of Tony, you levitated a few seconds and flew again.

When you were far enough, so he could enjoy the show you held up your hands and exhaled. Two balls of fire appeared above your palms. You held your hands out towards a huge pile of deadwood, emitting two flame throwers towards the rocks at the ocean's edge. Then you shot a quick succession of fireballs at small shrubs beneath your feet. Finally, you shot a last stream of fire on the rocks, a bigger one. You spun around and let the fire loss. The result was disastrous, horrific: everything below the house was burning.

At that moment you focused and felt the temperature changing from extreme heat to polar cold, your body iced. You flew low towards the fire and stopped in front of it: you took a deep breath and the wind of ice came out of your throat allowed you to put out the fire before it could become worse. Then you flew up and absent-mindedly traced your finger on the bay window. You left an enormous trail of ice crystals... the same window Tony was looking at. You landed at the edge of the water, one knee in the sand and put your hands above the liquid. Instantly, the ocean began to freeze before you. 

You stopped when you could only see the ice instead of water to the horizon. You slowly stood up and felt that you were weaker than ever, maybe because you crossed your limits.

You managed to fly back on the roof and went downstairs in the living room. There, you saw Tony, who kept looking through the window. You walked over and stopped a few steps away behind him, staring at your own work. Your brother slowly turned around to look at you in complete shock. Complete was actually an understatement.

“Tony?” You breathed out as you felt your heartbeat going crazy.

Your vision slowly blurred and darkness surrounded you before you hit the ground.


	15. I Can Explain! - (Tony Stark x Sister!Reader) 2/3

_Christmas 2008 - Stark Mansion, Malibu, CA_

When you blinked your eyes open, the first thing you noticed was the (color) of your bedroom’s ceiling. With difficulty, you tried to remember what made you feel this way, everything in your body hurt. The acute pain in your chest was the worst of all.

You didn't move. Yet, you just turned your head to the side, but nobody was there.

"What happened, J?" You put a hand on your head. A headache now.

"You passed out one hour ago." The AI informed you, "Sir carried you to your room and stayed at your side, but he left a few minutes ago when he took a sample of your blood."

"Yeah, now, I remember.” You slowly pushed yourself into a sitting position. “Where is he?”

“He is currently working down the workshop. I must say, he noticed S.H.I.E.L.D.’s logo on your jumpsuit and immediately called the Director of the agency.”

"One problem at a time.” You sighed and put your legs out of bed, “now, I need to see Tony."

“Miss Stark, your brother _insisted_ , you need to rest.”

"I don't need it anymore. I'm ok." You left your master bedroom to go downstairs to face up Tony’s reaction. "J.A.R.V.I.S., warn anyone who wants to go to the workshop that it's impossible. I want to talk in private with my brother."

"As you wish, Miss."

"And one more thing, how is he handling the news?" The ache inside your chest was finally calming down.

"His heartbeat shows slight anxiousness. I already told him to slow down."

"Ok, thanks." You pressed the code to open the glass door of the workshop and walked towards the Iron Man, sitting on the couch. "Tony. I- I... Can we just talk?" He looked up at you and then continued to work on his armor’s gauntlet. "I can explain!"

"I need time, Y/N. Just give me this."

“Okay.” You looked down at your feet and slowly nodded. "But just be aware that I didn't know how to tell you." You began to walk towards the door to leave him alone.

"No. Y/N, wait!" You moved to see he was, now, standing up. “You are a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, aren’t you?” You nodded and he walked up to stand behind his desk. “Since?”

“Since I graduated from high school.” You looked down, “how did you know?”

“Because it was obvious! It explains every damn thing that happened since you left the mansion. Why Fury mentioned you when he first came to me.” He sat on his chair, “why Coulson knew you and why you were away from the country so often. It explains _everything_!”

You crossed your arms over your chest. “How had you _really_ discovered it?”

He turned his face and any sign of slight humor left him, “I saw their logo on your suit, and then I had to call one person who confirmed my suspicion. Your boss, Director Fury. He revealed your secret.” He chuckled with sarcasm and stood, shocked. “I knew something was wrong with this, but I thought it was in my head. Were you even going to tell me?!”

“I’m a spy, so when I do something, it’s for a reason. I put on this suit with S.H.I.E.L.D.’s logo because I wanted to tell you at the same time with my powers.”

“Yeah, you’re a _spy_. Not the responsible of blablabla for the company.” He leaned forwards over the table. “Tell me, how did you get the job done if you didn’t work there?”

“I employed someone else to do it and paid this person with my salary.” You paused and sighed. “Listen, if I didn’t tell you I worked for them it’s because I had to protect you.”

“Protect _me_?!” He stood up, “what the fuck, Y/N?! You gotta be kidding me!”

“No, I’m not. I’m being serious. I work there because I share a history with the agency. I don’t regret what I did because if you knew then your life would’ve been in danger.”

“Because it isn’t now?” He scoffed.

“You’re Iron Man, you proved the world you could protect yourself! It’s the main reason why I told you… and if you weren’t Iron Man I would have also told the truth here and now.”

“It’s crazy how you seem comfortable with this situation. Why am I the only person shocked here?!” He threw his arms in the air. “You’ve been a spy for your whole life and it doesn’t seem like it did anything to you. You’re, there, standing like we are discussing the weather.”

“Because that’s who I am. There’s no way I’m being weak; I only act like I’m above everything. Just like you. That’s who I became and I won’t change anything because I’m a better person.” You stared at his eyes. “I’m sorry I had to hide it, but it was the best choice. I know you may not trust me anymore, but it’s my job, Tony. I wanted only to protect you.”

“From what?”

“From my work and from my powers!” You stepped closer.

“I was the one who had to protect you!” He pointed at him, “I’m your older brother, not a kid.”

“Just like me!” You looked away, “some day you will understand why I did this.”

He looked at you for endless minutes, with no emotions written on his face… just like yours.

After such argue that was going nowhere, you took a few steps back to the door.

“I have something to tell you before you leave.” You turned to his voice and frowned. "Take a seat, because I’m not finished yet." 

“Okay.” You did what he said and expected the worst when he opened his mouth to speak up.

"J told you what I did. So, I'm going to make this quick." He sighed, “based on the tests I ran, I found that your ‘supernatural powers’ changed from any other human DNA. I compared it to my own blood sample and it's drastically different.” He paused to look at his computer, “Y/N... you were unrecognizable. It was insane, and not just from the outside. Look." 

He turned his screen so that you could take a look at the compared genetic codes strands.

"I separated your DNA and mapped it, using gel electrophoresis. It didn't just rearrange. It contains extra macromolecules that are helping you! I wouldn't think that even possible. You are enhanced... something so transcendent, Y/N." He stood up and walked in circles. "That's amazing and so scary at the same time."

"Pretty accurate and cool conclusion, though." You smiled.

"I would like to do an echocardiogram just to be sure my other theory is right." He left and came back with an examination ultrasound table.

"What the hell are doing with that?" He just tapped on his reactor as a response. "Obvious."

"Ok, now, sit down and open your suit, so that I can begin. Don't worry, I won't look at you."

"Hey, I have a tank top under, it's ok." You zipped down the upper part of your suit and lay down on the ultrasound table to lower the collar of your top.

"It may be cold- uh, no forget it." He emptied the little bottle and when the gel touched your skin, it wasn't cold. He put the probe on your chest and the ultrasonic imaging of your heart appeared on the screen. "See? Everything is alright; your heartbeat is average at rest."

"So, no need to be worried about my heart then." You reassured.

"Can you snap your fingers, now?" As soon as he finished his sentence, you did it so that you could create a small flame, you looked up to the screen and something changed. "There is a very high concentration of energy surrounding your heart right now. I assume it has something to do with the devices that irradiated you back then.”

Tony turned his head from the screen. “When you made your demonstration this morning, it slowly drained your strength and energy to keep your powers on. That's what caused you to black out when you came back.” He took out the probe and put it next to the screen. “That was the first time you used them this way?"

"Let's just say the mixture between lack of sleep, stress and hypoglycemia did not help either. But, yes, you're right. I've never been that far." You took a tissue, wiped the gel and pushed yourself into a sitting position. "I miss the days when the weirdest thing science created was Captain America. That's probably what Bruce Banner is thinking too."

He took a seat next to you, “but the fact _is_ science didn't create you."

"What do you mean?"

"You were not supposed to be like that. Y/N, you played with dangerous radioactive items in his old lab because he always let you in! This should've been avoided." You looked away and he groaned. "No, look at me and tell me it's not the truth?"

"It's not because I don't- no, I can't even remember how it went! I blame myself. All I know is what he told me. That I've been warned multiple times, but as he said I was attracted by this room. I don’t even know why I activated this device!"

"You paid for our mistakes." He snorted.

"What mistakes?” You scoffed, “I was a 5 year old little girl, Tony! I always played like that and you too, always tried to do like dad with his experiments. Don't you think I regret it?" You took a deep breath and put your hand on your chest. "Of course I do. But regrets will not change what happened, so I moved on and now I deal with it thanks to my job."

He shrugged, "I don't know what to think right now. I need time to figure this out, I have many questions, but I don't want to talk about that for the moment."

An awkward silence filled the room and somehow relaxed the atmosphere. You stayed like this for a moment, looking at each other. A long sigh of relief escaped your mouth, it could have been worst, right? When fifteen minutes passed, you stood up and went to the door.

"I'll pack up my stuff and then I will leave the house." You informed.

"You won't, because you stay there.” Tony also stood up and walked to his couch, “I don't want you to leave, not until I talked to you about your spy life and everything linked to it.”


	16. I Can Explain! - (Tony Stark x Sister!Reader) 3/3

_January 2009 - A Restaurant, Beverly Hills, CA_

"What's going on?" Clint asked you.

You were with your friend at the restaurant because he wanted to refresh your ideas. It's been a week since you last talked with Tony, a _real_ talk. Since then, he avoided you or just said "hey or bye". Your brother spent all his time in the business while you were spending all your time at the gym or outside the house calling Phil or Peggy.

"Um, I was thinking about our next mission." You chewed your nails, “when is Natasha’s?”

"Tomorrow, in Canada. You’re too busy to remember." He smiled, "Y/N, I know you better than that. You are always doing this when you are very anxious and it’s rare to see."

You stopped and raised your eyebrows. "Doing what?"

"Your nails!" Clint smacked your hand, “what were you really thinking about?"

Since you joined their team, a few months ago, Clint, Natasha and you grew closer. You became very close friends. At a point that you knew them more than yourself, like them with you. They were your best friends. Even if they shared a stronger brother and sister bond.

"I don't chew my nails if that's what you think." You sighed, "I was thinking about Tony. He barely spoke to me. So, yeah, I'm very, very anxious." You chuckled, "I'm a trained spy and, with you and Nat, we lived worst things than that, but I can’t handle a damn family argument."

"Family is family, Y/N. But your brother is on another level." He laughed when you hit his arm. "Stark told you, he needs time. I'm sure he will talk to you. He won’t let you go after what you’ve been through. I’m sure Fury already fixed the situation… or worsened it.”

You laughed, "I guess I just have to wait. So, what do you want to do next?"

"I was just passing by because I have to go back to work. Undercover with Agent 13 in downtown, remember?” He asked and you nodded, “c’mon I’ll drive you back to the mansion.”

****

You entered your second hour of hard training in Tony’s gym. In the middle of the ring, you beat up the mannequin and the bags of sand. You kicked and punched like in the field, you let the pressure leave your body at each successful hit on the targets.

“Is this what you learn when you study to be a spy?” Tony asked from the doorway.

Your body tensed and you turned around. “This is a slight part of our training, yes.”

“Seems pretty hard.” He murmured, yet you heard him.

“It’s a lot harder than what it seems.” You removed your (color) boxing gloves and drank from your bottle. “Do you finally want to talk?”

“Yep, come with me.”

You grabbed your towel and followed Tony inside the living room where you sat next to each other on the big couch. After another long and awkward silence, he finally spoke up.

“Tell me everything about your job and your life.”

“The long or short version?” You asked and shrugged as a response, “both are very long, actually. So, I’ll try to sound understandable because I can’t give you details or information about my missions.”

For about one hour, you explained everything that happened in your life since you joined S.H.I.E.L.D. when you were a teen. You avoided the details to not compromise your work, but Tony was captivated by your stories and asked _many_ questions about your missions, your friends, your training and the engineering, of course.

You just told Tony everything he had to know about your life as a spy: covers, compromises and sacrifices for your ideal. You told him about the agency’s history and the fact that your father was one of the founding members. One thing led to another and this topic was ‘closed’.

"So, you want to drink something?" Your brother walked to the bar and you declined. "You sure?"

"No, I'm okay.” You sat on the counter next to him. “Thanks."

"That means more for me." He poured himself a drink, and jumped to sit next to you. “Your world is crazy, Y/N. This life is way too dangerous for you. Are you even aware of this?”

You sighed, “I chose it and I’m still here, considered as one of their best young agents so far.”

He nodded and looked at you a moment, "I've been thinking about what happened a lot. Actually, Pepper saved me again because I just couldn't work."

"You are nothing without her." You chuckled and he sipped from his drink.

"It's just a lot of events to digest in five months.” Tony stared at the wall in front of him, “between Afghanistan, Iron Man, S.H.I.E.L.D. and your weird yet so cool abilities."

"I know and I understand. I thought you'd never talk to me again."

"You are my only family, but it hurt that you hide something like that for years." He turned his to you, “what if you had died in the field without telling me?”

"I don’t know.” You looked down, “I’m sorry, Tony. I didn’t mean for this to happen, really, but this is my job’s policy."

"I still have three questions about your powers, this time. So, first: since when?"

"I was five years old when it first happened. I was playing in the garden when I fell because of a hole on the ground. That pissed me off and I just literally flamed on. Dad saw me and was as afraid as I was speechless and emotionless. At that moment, every year for ten years it just became harder and harder to control."

He sighed and finished drinking, “so, he also knew about it. I guess mom too." You nodded and he closed his eyes, “my second question is how you handled them?"

"With great powers comes a ton of weird crap that you are not prepared to deal with, Tony. And great responsibility too." You looked at your hands and then turned at him. "When I was spotted by S.H.I.E.L.D., I didn’t know they were specialized in this kind of people." You pointed at yourself, "I've been trained by them, with people like me, in harnessing my powers which then amplified.”

You continued, “I finally gained full control over them. Now, I can engulf my entire body in flames, fly, absorb fire harmlessly into my own body and control any nearby fire by sheer force of will. With that, I also have the ability to manipulate ice and cold by freezing water or vapor around me. This allows me to freeze objects, fly, as well as turn my body into ice and have a thermal vision. You already know that now."

He gasped and blinked at you. "Now, I miss the time when I thought I was the craziest thing on earth."

You smiled, “thanks to Phil Coulson and the scientists, I'm in peace with myself. They made me realize I was normal, but with some fun gifts. Because I used to think I was a monster."

He closed his arm around your shoulders. "My third and last question is: what made you choose to show me?"

"You." You continued, “what you said on Christmas' Eve knocked me out. I couldn't sleep, so I just kept thinking it was now the best time to show you. I felt 'free' because I couldn't hide it anymore. I was, I hate to say this so much, but I was so afraid of how you could react."

"Hey, you are like me; you keep it for yourself because you built walls around you to protect you from being hurt or, in this case, afraid."

You shrugged slightly, “maybe."

"Tell me more about this futurist suit.” He grinned and you raised your eyebrows. “That wasn't a question, but more of an order."

"I designed my uniform consisting of unstable molecules, enabling me to 'flame on' or 'freeze' without damaging it in any way. I'm trying to work on my casual clothes, now, but I don't have time to do it with the work. Besides, it's not like I'll use my abilities in my everyday life."

“But your everyday life is a spy one.” He smirked and you rolled your eyes.

“I’ve used my powers twice since I’m an agent. I chilled there.”

You continued to explain your job until the sun had set and that you had dinner. Things were getting better, even though, Tony kept being suspicious about some things. You couldn’t blame him. You would have exactly the same reaction if he would have hid the fact he was a spy for so much years.

"I think I have other questions, but I'm done for tonight." He put your plates and glasses inside the dishwasher. "Y/N, I'm sorry all you needed was a support, but I wasn't there."

"I guess we are even now, aren't we?" You smiled and went to hug him, "I'm sorry for telling you now, when I could do this sooner. I really didn’t mean to hurt you."

"You should've had, yeah. I'm here now and I meant what I said seventeen years ago. We will stay together, ok, sis?"

You smiled and pulled away. "Everything is alright then?"

"No, you are Tony Stark a.k.a. Iron Man's little sister nothing will be alright for now." He began to walk out of the kitchen with you, "I just need to time to get the idea that you don’t work for me.”

“Actually, I do work for you.” You corrected.

“Oh, yeah, about that, you are fired since last week.” He informed you with a smile. “That was all I could do to make you understand I was pissed off.”

“Really?” You stopped.

He nodded whilst smirking, “show me one more time."

"Nope, Tony." You walked to the living room’s stairs and Tony followed you.

"Just one more time, put on the suit." He stepped in front of you and made his puppy eyes. "Show me and you’re rehired."

You scoffed and took the stairs. "I'm tired."

"You're no fun, Y/N." He pouted and you turned around with a hurt face.

"Nice try, but I'm not working. Good night bro."

"Damn!" He whispered to himself. “Good night, but this isn’t over... I still have questions.”


	17. Soviet Winter - (Natasha Romanoff x Reader) 1/2

_June 2009 - Tehran, Iran, Middle East_

S.H.I.E.L.D. assigned you to protect Farzin Radan, a nuclear engineer, and get him out, alive, of his country. When Clint was undercover in Russia, he warned HQ there would be an imminent assassination of the Iranian engineer ordered by the KGB. There you made contact with a local hacker from the group Rising Tide, her name was Sharmin, and she also confirmed the information. 

Walking incognito, under your Iranian hijabs, through the streets of Tehran with Natasha next on your right, you stepped into a tea room for women where you had to meet Sharmin about Radan's real location.

Your contact waved at you in the dark corner of the room and you walked towards her. The reason why you asked a local to do the work was simple: you had to lay low to avoid the attention from the police or the army… you were on your own, as usual.

"Okay, if it’s necessary, I play the bad cop and you the good one." Natasha whispered and you sat next to her, Sharmin was between you two. "So, have you got any information about where Radan is?" Natasha questioned, acting casual.

"I have, but I can't tell you. That's why I'm here." The hacker dismissed.

"I thought we had a deal: you give us his location and we protect you!" The redhead whisper-shouted.

"You don't know with whom you are about to deal with, agents. It's better for you to stop here." Sharmin advised earning your impatience.

You sighed, “we have one mission, bring the engineer somewhere safe."

"If I give you this information, I'll compromise all my work."

"لطفا. این یک موضوع از زندگی یا مرگ است. من می دانم که شما یک مادر است.” You put your hand on her arm and smiled warmly. “I’m sure you’re not the one to give up on someone.”  
{Please. It is a matter of life or death. I know that you are a mother.}

After a few minutes of silence, looking at the table with the feeling of hesitation written on her face, Sharmin finally spoke up. "Listen, I can tell you where he is, but I can't tell you who exactly ordered his execution. Then, I don't want to work with S.H.I.E.L.D. because I have to protect my family."

"You will never hear about us from now." Natasha said.

The hacker nodded and with her hands shaking, she opened her laptop to show you the so precious location. The engineer was hiding in a village near Eslamshahr thirty minutes away from Tehran.

Once you had the intel, you left the tea room with Natasha to go back to your hotel.

"How are we going if we have no car?" You asked while walking in the still streets wearing your traditional Iranian hijab.

"I found a car and parked it behind the French embassy when we arrived two days ago." She informed with a smirk.

You blinked and put a hand on her arm to stop Natasha, “when?"

"When you were sleeping, I was bored, I guess."

"So, when you can't sleep you steal a car… You're the best friend I could've asked for Tasha."

You walked for another ten minutes, casually checking if you were followed before you arrived at the embassy.

Natasha stepped into the car and sat in the driver's seat. "Usually, Clint drives us and it's for a reason. We heard the legend saying you're better at flying than driving... and it’s true” She stated and you pretended to look hurt. “About the flying thing, we want to see that, Y/N."

You have removed your hijabs to be in casual clothes. She then drove for fifteen minutes in silence, enjoying the view when she began to talk. "What did you say to her, in Farsi?"

"The fact I mentioned her family changed her mind." You kept looking at the window.

"Emotional blackmail… it always works."

"No, it's just if I was her I would do anything to protect my children, I guess." You turned your head and she looked at you with a sad expression. "What's going on, Nat?"

She didn't answer before a few seconds. "Um, I've never really mentioned my past since I joined S.H.I.E.L.D., they are a few to know who I am." She paused, “from a young age, I… I was raised in a girls’ boarding school in Russia called the Red Room, a very special boarding school. There, we were trained to dance, but mainly to fight and kill without any regrets."

Natasha stopped the car and looked at you. "I was then hired by the KGB and I quickly became one of their best agents... when S.H.I.E.L.D. has ordered to eliminate me from the landscape, Clint made a different call and chose to protect me... He was my chance to redeem myself." She sighed and looked at her hands. "In the Red Room, where I was raised, um, they have a graduation ceremony. They sterilize you. It's efficient. One less thing to worry about. The one thing that might matter more than a mission. It makes everything easier. Even killing."

Seeing her hurt, or defenseless for the first time made your heart ache for her. Natasha was one of the strongest people you’ve ever met and with or without her past, she was still a good person even when she didn’t want to see it.

"Well, there’s still adoption," you spoke up and she smiled. “Look at what the Stark family got. It’s better to grow up in a good and stable family than where you were born. Like me, I love my parents and don’t care about my biological ones. They mean nothing.”

You drove for another twenty minutes when you arrived in the village of Eslamshahr. "It's here, the farm down the alley." You stepped out of the car; you pushed your gun at the back of your belt and started to walk towards the farm.

"Y/N, you go to the front and I go in the back." Natasha ordered in a murmur.

"Roger."

Once you arrived to the front, you noticed the farm was abandoned a long time ago. You grabbed your gun from your belt and opened the front door of the barn. You were in a position where you were ready to shoot at anyone. You slowly walked further in the dark.

"Shit!" You cursed.

_‘What's going on?'_

"I just hit my foot against a crate." She chuckled and you began to walk again to see computers and tools everywhere around you. “Well, these farmers are at the edge of technology.”

_'Y/N, I got him.'_

You ran at the back of the barn and you saw him hiding behind haystacks. "Farzin Radan?" You asked and he slowly nodded.

"I am Agent Romanoff and here is Agent Stark with S.H.I.E.L.D." She pointed at you.

"S.H.I.E.L.D.?" He questioned.

"Yes, we worked with you a long time ago.” Natasha refreshed his memory, “we are here to escort you out of Iran to our facility in Kiev, Ukraine."

Then, from a distance you could hear the propellers of a helicopter approaching the farm. 

"I’ll take a look." You climbed the ladder to the floor where the hay was stored to glance at the black helicopter with the KGB logo coming to the roof. You jumped out, “come on, we don't have much time."

"My znayem, chto vy zdes', Radan!” A man with a megaphone yelled.  
{We know that you are here, Radan!}

"They know you're here. So, you stay there." Nat turned to you. “Stark, follow me.”

You ran and slammed the doors open; you rolled through the dirty ground until you regained your balance and shot at six agents who were landing. Quickly, you saw another helicopter landing on the floor with more agents inside while the first was still above you.

"Nat, cover me, I need to take their rifles! I'm almost out of ammunition!"

"Roger that." She came next to you allowing you to crouch and crawled to a man while she kept shooting at them, you swept and shot him. You stole his two machine guns and threw one to Natasha. "They remain eight in sight."

"Ok, let's have fun." You stood up and emptied your ammo pack on the men before you, when they were all on the ground. Tasha ran and clicked a grenade from her belt, throwing it in one of the helicopters a few meters above you.

In a swift move, you ran and jumped next to her as you quickly used your ice powers to create a shield around the two of you, protecting you from the explosion’s pieces. "Romanoff, when I said having fun, I didn't think of being exploded!"

Once the explosion has stopped, you rolled around and touched the ice shield.

“Please, don't flame on. Please, don’t flame on.” The heat radiated from your body and melted the ice around you. “Yay!”

You stood up to return inside the barn and Nat tapped your back. "Thanks, I owe you."

"No, it's ok." You closed the doors, “there will be other helicopters arriving and we no longer have any weapon. We need a plan, Nat. I've run out of ideas. It's your orders, now."

"We have two guns I grabbed from a guy with a metal arm, so here is yours."

"Here!" Radan yelled in front of you and lifted a plate sewer.

"What's that?" Nat asked.

"It is a tunnel that my men and I dug before they eventually flee."

You frowned and hesitated, “where will it take us?"

"Five kilometers north, back in Tehran." He replied and you turned to Natasha for an answer.

"It's better than nothing."

"How are we going in there?" You asked.

"We jump. There will be a drop of about three meters before we reach the ground."

Radan jumped the first, then Natasha followed.

“It's just a free fall. It's not like you had never been close to death before.” You tried to convince yourself as you ran and jumped inside the tunnel.


	18. Soviet Winter - (Natasha Romanoff x Reader) 2/2

_June 2009 - Safe House, Tehran Iran, Middle East_

You walked over an hour before reaching the end of the tunnel that got you to an empty house. The sun had already set, so you decided to stay there for the night. Your duty guard lasted every hour; you were all tired, but didn’t complain and enjoyed the peaceful silence.

When the sun finally rose, Natasha stared at the ceiling while you got up and went to the bathroom to put some fresh water on your face in an attempt to keep you awake.

"I'm going to get something to eat.” Natasha told you, “if I don't come back in ten minutes... you don't worry because I would probably be on a plane to the Bahamas." Chuckling, she left.

"Good morning." Radan said from the living room.

You came out of the bathroom and went back into the room. "Morning, Agent Romanoff is getting us some food before we leave. It's better if we don't stay there any longer."

"Alright… and thank you for helping me."

"That's our job." You sat on the floor in front of Radan and stared at the wall before talking again. "I saw your equipments on the farm, what were you doing in there? I’m just a curious engineer."

"As you know I worked with S.H.I.E.L.D. as consultant for three years before I moved to Russia. I was hired by the KGB to build and design whole new equipment inspired by yours, make them even better." He smiled as a proof of sarcasm, "I guess money motivated me. So, during a year I worked on their equipments, but they asked for more and more, first with diplomacy and then with physical violence.”

You nodded and he continued, “this made me realize my mistake. Eight weeks ago, I left with all of my designs and their worst secrets. That's how I became a threat to eliminate." He stood up and walked to the window, "I came back home, and I hid in the farm where we continued our work, with my team. But they flee when I was informed my life was threatened. Finally, now, here you are trying to save me. The agency I left and betrayed."

"I still believe in second chances." You claimed and he smiled as a response.

You stayed silent for the next minutes when Natasha came back with some food that you all quickly ate… well, you were kind of starving. Understandable, right?

"We need a plan." Nat said.

"We should find a way to send a signal to HQ. We need a Quinjet, a shower... and a big American cheeseburger." You already dreamed of them.

"We can't, Y/N. As soon as we do this, the Russian will know exactly where we are."

"I can help you with it." Radan spoke up, “it's the least I can do."

"How?" The redhead asked.

"I have a dear friend working at the British embassy; he can help us. I can call him."

"You really think he will help us?" He nodded as a response to your question.

Nat looked at you then at him. "We need fake passports and tickets for a flight to Odessa, Ukraine. You sure you can do this?" 

"I am."

You sighed and with a look of concern on your face. "Okay, I walk you to a phone booth. Nat, you ok with it?" She ran a hand through her hair and nodded.

*****************************************

_The next day - Hotel Odessa Strand, Odessa, Ukraine, Europe_

You left Iran without a problem and at late night, you landed in Odessa to take a hotel room next to the engineer's one. Your mission was almost over; your last move was to return to Kiev by car for safety. Nat told you, the KGB never gave up on a target ‘till they get the job done. When you arrived, you immediately borrowed a car and bought two precision rifles with a new phone. That was all you needed to leave this city to the capital.

You woke up and went to take a shower, still thinking about the plan you made with Natasha. It was supposed to be easy: pay the bill with your fake identities and drive straight to the S.H.I.E.L.D. facility. You put on your new clothes and went down the hall with Natasha and Radan, ready to leave. A man dressed in a black suit with what seemed like a metal arm entered the hotel and slowly went towards you.

"Usual attack one at the front and the other behind." Natasha whispered. You nodded, Radan quickly hid underneath a table and Natasha walked at the back towards the other agent.

You ran to the first man and jumped on the front desk helping you to go on top of him, knocking his gun out of his hand and trying to take him down. He caught you with his metal arm and smashed you against the nearest wall. A shiver of pain went down your body, but you weakly stood up and side kicked him. You pulled out a gun from your belt, but he grabbed it and threw it away. That's how you spotted a knife in his belt. The metal arm man tried to punch you and as you knelt to grab his knife, you stabbed him in his thigh and punched his stomach to finish with a hard kick in his neck.

"Come on, we need to take the car quickly!" Nat cried out as she began to leave with Radan. You followed them and ran to the emergency exit toward the parking lot and the grease dumpsters at the back.

You booted up the car and left at high speed from the hotel’s parking space to drive into the city. After a few seconds three black cars were at your back.

“THAT’S AWESOME! I FOUGHT A GUY WITH A METAL ARM AND NOW, I’M DRIVING LIKE IN FAST & FURIOUS!” You laughed and left the wheel to clap your hands, “I LOVE MY JOB!”

“Really, Y/N/N?” You grinned and drove faster in the traffic. "They won't leave us except if we can create a crash between them!" Natasha shouted. You turned right to the old streets of the city; their cars were already on your tail, they were staking out, trying to find you.

"My main concern happens to be the tires that are treading on these worn down streets. I need to get us out of here." When the first bullets touched the car, you turned to the corner, nearly tipping the car over in the process. “Damn!” Up ahead was traffic, maybe because of the match day. You whipped the car around, nearly running into a tree and drove over a few pedestrians who were already recording the chase.

Two agents of the KGB came out of the panoramic sunroof of their cars and began to shoot at yours. Nat got up from her seat and shot at the first driver who lost control of the vehicle and crashed against a tree. _**Geez!**_

"I need a hand." She shouted

"Copy that. Farzin, take my seat and drive us away from the city."

"Where?" He exclaimed, panicked by the situation.

"Just drive us where there will be no civilians!"

You got up and took your precision rifle to shoot at a driver’s chest. His car stopped suddenly and the other crashed behind to roll over the road causing two big explosions.

"Get down!" Natasha yelled and in a hurry, you grabbed your phone to send the signal to S.H.I.E.D. with your current coordinates.

Radan drove you out of the city and lead all of you to the coast. When you thought you were finally far away from them, another car hit the right of yours. Radan lost the control and the car turned on itself like you were on a roller coaster.

The engineer quickly restarted and drove again to the cliff. Nat stood up and tried to shoot at the car at your back, but the metal arm guy avoided all of her bullets to stop his vehicle.

The KGB guy stepped out of his car, took out a grenade gun and pointed it at yours.

“Shit… him, again.” Natasha mumbled like she had seen a ghost.

"We have to jump out of the car at the last moment." You cried out.

"We're still driving Agent Stark." Radan claimed like it was obvious.

“Sure, I didn’t notice.” You waited two more seconds. "Okay, now!"

The cyborg shot and before the grenade exploded under your car, sending it flying over the cliff; you all opened the doors and jumped out of the car rolling on the ground. You felt a great pain and breathed heavily as your skin rubbed against the hard stones causing you to bleed.

As Natasha weakly stood up, you turned your head to see the man standing in front of you, but he didn't shoot at you. He just pointed his gun to Radan who was on his knees behind Natasha. Like an emotionless person, like a weapon, he shot at Nat's belly and the bullet passed through her body to lodge in Radan's head.

“No!” You looked at them horrified by what you just saw and all you felt was revenge.

You stood up, centimeters away from him, ready to fight. You jumped and kicked his back, but like he felt nothing, he just turned with a cold glare and shot you in the chest.

You fell on your knees and reached your hands to your chest and saw the blood dripping out of the wound, flowing between your fingers. Little by little darkness surrounded you.

*****************************************

_Three days later, S.H.I.E.L.D. Facility, Kiev, Ukraine, Europe_

With a difficultly, you slowly opened your eyes and a blinding light from the window hit you. When the reasons why you were lying on a hospital bed came back in mind, you turned your head to the side to see Coulson sitting on a chair next to your bed.

"Phil?" You rasped, and tried to sit up, but harsh pains from your chest made you stop immediately, sending an uncomfortable shiver down your spine.

"Y/N. Finally, you're awake!" He said with a sigh of relief and kissed your forehead.

"W- Water please." You looked around as he poured some water. "What happened?" You murmured when you quenched your thirst.

"You've got shot in the chest. A single bullet nearly killed you. You stayed-"

"Wait, where are Natasha and Radan?" You interrupted.

"Romanoff also got shot, nothing compared to you. She insisted to see you, but she needed some rest. And the engineer didn't make it.” Phil announced and you felt like you failed like never. “I’m sorry. It's your first failed mission, but don't blame you because you tried to do your job. Y/N, sometimes we can't save everybody, it’s like that. However, _**we don't give up**_."

As a mix of guilt and bitterness took over your mind that was rushing, you stared at the window for a very long moment and turned back to him.

"Who was the guy who shot at us? It’s the first time I see a man like that." You were curious.

"When we arrived, he left, we searched for him, but we couldn't find him. We have no records on him. He's a ghost." He paused, “but we just have a name: the **Winter Soldier**.”

You nodded, feeling the anger spreading through you. Knowing how you felt, your mentor took your hand and gently squeezed it to reassure you.

"Do you want something?" He asked whilst smiling.

"…"

"…"

"Now, I want an American cheeseburger."


	19. Troublemaker - (Tony Stark x Sister!Reader)

_September 2009 - Sibley Memorial Hospital, Washington D.C._

Three weeks after your admission in the hospital’s cardiology care, you came back to your apartment. When you got back to the US, Tony was really worried about you. He knew you’ve been shot in the chest, but of course you avoided the details of your mission. He just knew about your wound and vaguely knew how it went.

He was upset that you had to hide the goals of your missions, but he dealt with it pretty well.

At your surprise, your brother insisted on accompanying you on your very last visit to the doctor. You got back to work a bit more than a month after you got shot, but you had appointments every two weeks to check how you recovered from your wound.

"Miss Stark, according to the latest x rays, everything seems to be good.” Your surgeon informed and opened your file. “Your scar is less visible which a relief is, I guess. Since you went back to work two months ago, nothing changed.” He wrote down on a paper and smiled at you. “Now, you just need to avoid the wrong area of the city in the future."

"Thanks, Doctor."

“I hope to not see you again.” He warned and arched a brow.

You laughed, “I’ll try.” You shook his hand and he left the room to let Tony walk back in from the waiting room.

“You like it, huh?” Your brother asked with a tiny smirk.

You frowned, “what do you mean?"

He turned around, "you always put you in danger. It’s like you’re a troublemaker. You love it."

You laughed and raised an eyebrow. “Because you certainly do not. I forgot.”

He scoffed, "you took a bullet in the chest. A few centimeters away from your heart. So, it’s not the same situation, Y/N/N.”

“Being a troublemaker is something I share with you,” you snorted. “Admit we are both addicted to a certain lifestyle. We're abnormally attracted to dangerous situations and… people. Guess that comes from the fact we have everything since we’re kids.”

He shook his head, “think we got that from dad, to be precise.”

You chuckled and grabbed your jacket, “side effect of being a Stark."

"Yeah, and when we're not finished, all you do is always bury our conversations down and then move on like nothing happened."

"Guess I'm not the type of living in the past." You bit and he clenched his jaw.

"You always did that." He retorted.

"What do you mean?"

"Burry things down. I have numerous examples." 

“The parents taught me to do it, to protect myself from my feelings. ‘There’s no need to feel sorry for yourself and cry because nobody will cry for you.’ You are the perfect example.”

“I talk to Rhodey or you when I need to. _You_ , you keep everything for yourself and deep down these feelings will slowly kill you. We can talk. Y/N, I’m here for you.”

Looking at him, you just wanted to see him give up, but you knew Tony would never do that.

“Okay.” You sat down as you surrendered. “What do you want to talk about?”

“Your biological parents.”

You shook your head. "No, no, no.” You mumbled, “our parents are dead."

"See? That's what I said." He sat on a chair and sighed. “We’ve never talked about it since you came into the family. But last week, when you were on the phone, I heard you speaking about them. So, I felt like you also had to talk about it with me.”

“You are spying on me, now?” You kicked an eyebrow.

“No, you weren’t discreet at all.” He paused, “what I’m asking is ‘are you looking for them’?”

“You know, you heard me talking to Phil. He asked me the same question as yours. And I told him; since I was born, I’ve never felt the urge to search for them because I don’t want to share anything with them. You are my family, not these people.”

“Are you sure?”

"If they left me at Mom and Dad's doorstep, then they had their own reasons. I don't want to know who they are, what they have become and- least of all -why they did that." You assured.

He sighed in relief and collapsed on the chair. “For a moment I thought you’d do everything to know them. Not that I wouldn’t help or support you, but still…”

“You know, if I needed to talk about it, I’d do it because I always told you everything.”

“Everything, but you have always been a superpowered spy.”

You rolled your eyes and shook your head. “This will never die.”

“Never.” He stood up and laughed. “Brother and sister ‘till the end?” He passed you his pinky finger with a smile.

“Brother and sister till the end.” You wrapped your finger against his and stood up to put on your jacket. “So, how is it going with your peace-keeping thing with the eastern region?”

“Great. I protect them. I mean, since I’m Iron Man, the relations between our government and these regions of the world are better. Even good.”

You both stepped out of the room and walked to the elevator.

"The world would be lost without us, right?" You chuckled.

“Oh, boy. You’ve never been so right, pyromaniac.” He pushed the button, “Pepper is waiting for us downstairs with Happy, by the way.”

"What about a monopoly at my place like when we were kids?" You smiled.

"We are already billionaires,” he crossed his arms. “What do you want more, now?"


	20. Level 7 - (Phil Coulson x Reader)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone. :D
> 
> Here's a quick note about the charactes appearing in this part: Bobbi Morse and Agent 33 aka Kara Palamas.
> 
> Bobbi Morse: vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/a…  
> Basically Bobbi is very friendly and good with people, but she is a very determined person. She is as badass as Natasha. She is also very strong and a bit sassy. Her favorite weapons are her batons. Personally she is one of my favorite female characters of the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe).
> 
> Agent 33:vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/m…  
> Kara is a very strong willed individual and she is not afraid to fight for what she believe in and she has a good resistance.

_February 2010 - The Triskelion, Washington D.C._

"You know, I'm in contact with a guy from Alabama. He is Dungan's grandson and he wants to sell his vintage spy tech." You told Phil as you left your locker room, "seems like he wasn't sentimental about his granddad's Howling Commando stuff. He told me about a hair dryer-"

"Oh, my God. Are you talking about the handheld hypno-beam?" He fanboyed... once again.

"Yeah." You held a laugh and continued to walk through the building's hallways. "One of the original betas, it has the switch on the bottom."

"The production models moved it to the side." He grinned and you rolled your eyes, amused. "This is amazing!" Phil exclaimed, "almost as cool as a transistorized blast gun."

"I also have the very first prototype of Captain Rogers' shield at home, you know."

"No, I didn't!" He stopped in the middle of the hallway "why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I knew you would spend your free time at Tony's mansion like when we hide out twelve hours for a damn joy buzzer." You responded, not even exaggerating.

"First of all, it was the first E.M.P. and second of all, a lot of vintage S.H.I.E.L.D. spy craft was designed to look innocent in case a spy was caught. That's why we are the best today."

Let's just say that when you first met Phil Coulson, the man who became a father for you, he hid one thing about him. His great love for the WWII, especially for Captain America and his Howling Commandos.

After years, he finally admitted his passion for collecting vintage stuff: when you agreed to help him in your own way... you immediately regretted it. Sure, Phil was very cute when he saw an opportunity to extend his collection, but when it required stalking people to have some great opportunities, it became a little annoying.

Fortunately for you, as time went on, you cured your boredom by making fun of your mentor. You just loved to tease him about it, saying that at least your father met Captain Rogers and some members of his team, so you didn't need to fangirl over them.

"You put on your new suit as Fury asked." Phil changed the topic, accompanying you to the very new training room where you would have a sparring match. "Good."

"I don't see why he asked; I mean I prefer my simple workout clothes." You entered the room and saw new equipments: robots. They were a good twenty, spread to the four corners of the room, like they were ready to be used.

Robots made of silver that strangely reminded you of your brother's armor. As you analyzed their titanium alloy, you noticed they hadn't any of the repulsors that could allow them to fly.

"We just want to make sure everything is all right here." Phil smirked and your brows furrowed in confusion, "stay there, I'm coming back. I need to grab my towel."

While he went out, you walked towards an android to take a closer look at the design.

Rapidly, the robot bustled in front of you and charged a shot of blue energy to you. In a good reflex- like you learned -you jumped backwards and rolled on the ground to rise up again.

"Flame on!" You ordered when it tried to beam at you another time.

You took your fire shape and threw the robot a fireball to reduce it to ashes. Another robot came behind you, and you avoided his shots by creating a barrier made of ice around it. You flew towards the trapped robot and created a field of fire inside the freezing cage to burn it. In a matter of seconds, you quickly melted the metal and the ice.

Little did you know that as you kept battling against S.H.I.E.L.D.' latest invention, Phil and Director Fury were carefully watching you through the monitor, from the boss' office.

Immediately after a third assault, four other robots went out of the ground to attack you. As they aimed their energy repulsor at your body, you flew above their metal figures and launched great flames to melt them.

You landed on the ground of the gym, which was already damaged by the sudden assault.

Taking seconds to process what happened; you deduced it could be a test. That would explain Phil's weird behavior throughout the day.

You tried to leave the room, but this time, about twenty other robots have come around you, ready to load a blast of energy through you. "What the hell?!"

Your mind focused on your other favorite icy asset and you held out your arms towards the band of androids to blast and freeze all of them in place.

There was a quick and stressful silence before every robot managed to break their ice-cold prison with a beam of energy, what caused such an explosion that slammed you up to a wall.

You fell hard on the ground, feeling a cruel ache running down your spine. With a great pain, you stood up and didn't give up. You resumed your shape of fire to fly around them and finally use one of your most effective attacks: you breathed fire.

"That's my girl." Phil commented in a whisper, proud to see you not giving up the fight.

You surrounded the robots with enormous flames as you released the biggest heat you could reach into these flames. You created a conflagration in the room. Every android melted under your will and the room began to burn. You flew towards a corner of the room, this time, to blow a polar cold to extinguish the fire.

Everything around you was frozen; the soft gray walls had deep dark shadows that witnessed the fire you created. The floor looked like an ice skating rink decorated with some ice shards as if the room became an iceberg. One word to describe this scene came to you: chaos.

You regained your regular human form and left the training room pissed off- with a painful and severe throbbing in the chest -to go down the great hall.

"Really, Fury?" You pushed on your earpiece, "if you wanted to test the reliability of the room... there were other ways. I'm not finished with you-"

You were stopped as four agents surrounded you. Without a warning, one of them abruptly kicked your leg causing you to fall on one knee. The other tried to hit your face, but you dodged in time and solidly punched his crotch to shove him aside.

You immediately stood up, already forgetting the boiling agony inside your body. You gave a steadfast high kicked to the second agent in the neck and as he fell on his knees, you jumped on his shoulders to give you a push to do a headscissors takedown to the third one. While you tried to rise up, the fourth agent came behind you and punched your back.

You fell back on the floor, when you turned your body around, he lifted his feet to kick you in the stomach, but you managed to roll over. You got up from the ground to stand behind him and have a great angle of attack. As you turned him around, you were about to swing your fist to his face when he ducked and grabbed your arm to twist it behind your back.

More pissed off, you mercilessly elbowed his chin, making him let go of you and brutally pinned him to the floor.

Like it wasn't enough pain for the day, it was Agent Morse's turn to enter the room with her famous battle staves accompanied by Agent 33.

"Bobbi and Kara. Here to kick some butt?" You said, stretching your neck, ready to fight them.

They smirked as a response and ran into you. While Bobbi punched you in the face, Kara kicked your stomach and you lost your balance. Taking advantage of this posture, you swept them both to make them fall hard. When Bobbi found herself on the ground, you kicked her left hand and grabbed one of her silver baton.

"C'mon, Y/N." Phil said and Fury looked at him, mentally telling to shut up. "Forget the pain and fight."

You turned to see 33 on her feet, you swirled in order to hit on the torso, but she ducked down and blocked your arms to take the stave you stole from Mockingbird.

You were now the one without any weapon when Bobbi stood up, twirling her baton.

You focused on your right hand and created a pretty thin, but formidably dangerous frozen stick; you smirked and ran to hit them both with it. First, they tried to avoid all your moves and hit you multiple times, but you didn't fall down. As Agent 33 slammed you against a wall and punched your stomach, you tugged on her long hair, turned around and jumped to kick her strongly against the wall. Bob came behind you and threw a glance to Kara, who was already weakly standing up.

"Come on, ladies. We are great fighters, but you are wasting your time." You warned and regained your ice form so they couldn't do anything against you. Taking advantage of the situation, you knock them out with the new frozen batons in your hands.

Panting like you never did before; you stood on your knees and tried to catch your breath. The painful burn inside your chest was still there, you just felt your heart pounding incredibly fast against your ribcage. Your pulse was abnormally irregular after this fight and this feeling became part of a routine after a special training. When you heard footsteps coming your way, you turned your head to see Fury standing behind you with Phil and... they slowly applauded you.

"Wait, what is that?" You breathed and wiped the sweat off your brow.

"Great job, Y/N." Phil smiled and helped you up, "you passed your test."

"You just made me fight your agents!" You cried out with a hand lying on your chest. "Seriously, what the hell is wrong with you, people?!"

"A great agent is capable of kicking everyone's ass, Stark." Fury replied. "Welcome to level 7."

"That's how we become level 7?! You're kidding, right?" Hands on your knees you sighed. Your heart wasn't calming down, "Barton and Romanoff didn't tell me."

"No. That's how you become part of the Avenger Initiative." Fury announced.


	21. Avenger Initiative - (Tony Stark x Sister!Reader)

_June 2010 [After the Hammer's Drones attack] - Stark Expo, Flushing, NY_

Trapped and wrapped by Whiplash's electric whips, the two armored heroes, Tony and Rhodey, combined their repulsor blasts with your flamethrower. The great amount of energy surrounding everyone caused a massive explosion inside Stark Expo's dome that shoved you hard on a rock by the artificial river.

The pain that traveled inside your body was such agony; it took you very long seconds before you could feel your legs and your arms screaming to be released from the severe ache.

"Y/N, you're ok?" Tony rushed to you with Rhodey and opened the helmet of his suit armor.

You blinked your eyes open, which shone bright orange. "Yeah, I'm- I'm alright." Your brother helped you up and you already felt the bleeding wounds scratching your back. "Don't worry," you put a hand on your chest as you tried to fill your lungs with air. "I just- I just need to catch my breath." You panted.

You found yourself in this state after having helped Iron Man and War Machine to defeat Whiplash. Afterwards an intense battle between you three and the Justin Hammer's drones- those were designed by your family enemy Ivan Vanko -you finally won.

"Y/N, you didn't tell me your powers were that great." Rhodey patted your shoulder.

"Guess I didn't know everything." Tony laughed, "she didn't tell S.H.I.E.L.D. she's here."

Fury had assigned you to watch after your brother following his little show in Washington, D.C.'s Capitol. When you were in the middle of the mission, the Director had a most important affectation for you in Johannesburg. He chose Natasha to replace you to infiltrate the family's company... which _was not_ to your liking.

Refusing to follow Fury's orders- because you were emotionally compromised to give a real view on Tony's possible application in the Avenger Initiative -you got back to the continent and helped Tony to find a cure against the Palladium poisoning in his reactor. You also helped him synthesizing a new element as core of the arc reactor in replacement of the older one.

One thing led to another, you discovered Ivan Vanko's plan to get revenge against your family because as Howard Stark's children, the Russian physicist thought he could make you suffer like he did all his life in Siberia where he grew up as a poor child after Howard fired his father, Anton.

"We still have this one." Rhodey pointed at Vanko who was lying inside his own suit armor and you all approached the Russian's body inside the dark Oracle Dome of the Stark Expo.

"You lose." The physicist laughed in a whisper while he felt the life leaving him.

You noticed this man, who was about to die, behaved weirdly serene. There wasn't enough time to think about it when all the robots around you, including Whiplash's, beeped madly.

"All these drones are rigged to blow." Rhodey informed you, every Hammer drone was equipped with self-destructor charges. "We gotta get out of here, guys."

"Pepper?" Tony desperately called for her. "Rhodey, Y/N, you leave! I get Pepper."

"Flame on!" You ran and flew outside the Oracle Dome with the Lieutenant Colonel to the farthest building while Tony went to save Pepper on the other side of the compound.

"Here!" Rhodey told you and both landed on the west side's building outside the Expo.

While you sat down on the floor with him, the outburst of the Hammer's drones filled the air everywhere around you. Bright orange color floated in the alleys, like a fancy firework.

"I think we did okay." You turned to Rhodey and heard the loudest explosion behind you.

Not even realizing you were there, Tony and Pepper landed on the same roof and began to talk. You glanced at your brother's best friend and listened to their conversation. They weren't discreet. As usual, they argued about how the billionaire risked his life since he had the armor and how Pepper couldn't handle the pressure to be the new CEO of Stark Industries. She wanted to quit everything.

What _you_ couldn't handle was this _tension_ between these two. Numerous times in your life, you tried to get them together, but they always had ridiculous excuses to avoid the truth about their feelings for each other. You played the matchmaker since Pepper had been hired.

As you were about to shout that they should kiss, Rhodey stopped you and you gasped in joy when they finally did it! Feeling the slight awkwardness, they broke away just a second to kiss a second time and, they earned your whistle as an encouragement.

"Finally!" You clapped your hands and stood up, "it was about damn time!"

They both turned to you and raised their eyebrows. "Did she just ruin our first kiss?" Tony asked while he looked at Pepper.

The redhead kept looking at you, blushing, "I think she did."

"There will be revenge, Y/N." Tony threatened and you chuckled, "I'll ruin your kiss... if there will be one. Old girl. Not that I don't like the idea, you'd stay away from men since what-"

"I think it was weird." You all turned your heads to Rhodey while he pointed to your brother and Pepper. "You guys looks like two seals fighting over a grape."

"I had just quit, actually." Pepper admitted and looked everywhere, embarrassed.

"Yeah, so we're not-"

"You don't have to do that." You interrupted Tony, "Rhodey and I heard the whole thing."

"You should get lost." Your brother suggested.

"We were here first." The new War Machine protested and came next to you, "get a roof."

Tony laughed, putting a hand on Pepper's back, "I thought you were out of one-liners."

"That's the last one." Rhodey laughed as well.

"You kicked ass back there, by the way."

You smiled proudly, "it was pretty easy, I think I-"

"I was talking to him." The billionaire cut in.

"Thanks. You too." Rhodey punched your arm playfully and turned to Tony. "Listen, my car got taken out in the explosion. I'm gonna have to hang on to your suit for a minute, okay?"

"Not okay. Not okay with that."

"It wasn't a question." Your brother's best friend closed his helmet and took off.

"I gotta go too. I still have to write a report on this mission." You body suited up in ice by the force of your will, "have fun, lovebirds." You also took off to your penthouse in Manhattan.

Three days had past since the events at the Stark Expo while you walked inside a hideout that was S.H.I.E.L.D.'s secret base in the state of New York. You entered Fury's 'office' and spotted Tony waiting for you and him by the desk. With your report- about your brother -between your hands, you sat next to him in the dark office and greeted each other.

"They hired you to watch after me." Tony asked whilst playing with Fury's pencil.

"I asked to be assigned to watch after you. But then, the boss sent Natasha. It was for-"

"So, you super secret boy band's all about the mission, not the person next to you?" He queried.

"What?" You looked at him confused, "that's not what S.H.I.E.L.D.'s about. This agency is about sacrifice, not for you or me, but for the greater good."

"Even over the ones you love?" Your brother asked.

"Yes." You responded, frankly, "even them."

Tony scoffed, "I don't know whether I admire you or feel sad for you or both."

The Director interrupted your conversation as he walked in and spoke up, "Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division." Fury sat in front of you and looked at Tony. "What does that mean to you?"

"It means someone really wanted your initials to spell out 'shield.'". He sassed.

Fury turned his head to you, "Agent Stark?"

"It means we're the line between the world and the much weirder world. We protect people from news they aren't ready to hear. And when we can't do that, we keep them safe." You turned your head to Tony. "But I also really think that our founders wanted the word 'shield'."

Tony picked up the file 'Avengers Initiative Preliminary Report' on the table, but you and Fury put your hands on it to stop him. That wasn't his concern anymore.

"I don't think I want you looking at that. I'm not sure it pertains to you anymore. Now, this on the other hand, is Agent Romanoff's assessment of you." Fury handed a gray file to your brother, "read it."

"Okay." Tony read it out loud. " _'Personality overview: Mr. Stark displays compulsive behavior.'_ In my own defense, that was last week in my birthday party. _'Prone to self-destructive tendencies.'_ I was dying. I mean, please. Aren't we all? 'Textbook narcissism'? Agreed. Okay, here it is. _'Recruitment assessment for Avenger Initiative. Iron Man? Yes.'_ I gotta think about it."

"Read on." You whispered and put your own report on the table.

" _'Tony Stark not... Not recommended'_?..." Tony looked at the paper, surprised. "That doesn't make any sense. How can you approve me, but not approve me?" The billionaire put back the file on the desk, "I got a new ticker. I'm trying to do right by Pepper. I'm in a stable-ish relationship." Your brother turned to you. "What did _you_ write about me?"

"I wrote the exact same thing, but I want Tony Stark as IronMan." You opened the file and gave it to him. "Now, you know why I can't be objective when it comes to you."

"You're not objective, but you're smarter than Romanoff. I mean, you know you can't separate Iron Man and me. The suit and I are one."

Fury walked round and rested against the table by Tony's chair. "What Romanoff, and what you just told me, leads us to believe at this juncture we'd only like to use you as a consultant."

Tony stood and offered his hand to Fury. "You can't afford me." He went to leave, but turned around. "Then again, I will waive my customary retainer in exchange for a small favor. Since my sister wants to stay in the shadows as well as S.H.I.E.L.D., Rhodey and I are being honored in Washington and we need a presenter."

"I'll see what I can do."

You also stood and smirked, "I'll write his speech then."

 

*****************************************

  _A week later - United States Capitol, Washington, D.C._

After the battle at Stark Expo, Senator Stern was forced by the US President to present Tony and Rhodey with their medals for bravery after they destroyed Justin Hammer's drones and Vanko's suit. Much to his dismay, the politician accepted and Tony took pleasure to get revenge.

Revenge? Tony had been summoned to attend a Senate Armed Forces Committee in Washington, D.C., a month before, in order to force him to give his technology to the United States government. Stern wanted the Iron Man armor for the Government's use. As hard as he tried his best to forge through evidence that Tony couldn't have it on his own and get the courts on his side, Tony outwitted him and won the case, causing an indignant backlash from a defeated Stern.

"Tell me?" Tony asked as you were sitting next him in the car that drove you to the Capitol. "How do I look like?"

AC/DC's Highway to Hell played while Happy turned the wheels across the streets.

"You look like you." You grinned.

He turned to Pepper, "how do I look like?"

"Perfect, as usual. Don't do the same show you did when you were summoned there."

You laughed, "this guy hates you so much more now."

"Don't worry, ladies. I know that and I'll enjoy every bit of this moment."

You stepped out of the car to go into the garden of the Capitol, where you waited for Tony and Rhodey, with Pepper on your right. After long minutes when every guest arrived and took their seats, before the stage, Stern finally came from the door with your brother and his best friend.

A fake smile appeared on the Senator's face while he walked up to the microphones.

"It is my honor to be here today to present these distinguished awards to Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes and Mr. Tony Stark, who is, of course, a national treasure." You laughed when Tony smirked at your well written speech. "Thank you Lieutenant Colonel and Mr. Stark for such as exceptionally distinguished performance. You deserve this."

When Stern finished pinning Tony and Rhodey's medals for bravery on their chests, he turned to take a photo and you all applauded. You laughed when your brother, with his brightest smile, turned his head to you and Pepper as he did the peace sign.

His favorite sign.


	22. The Shield - (Clint Barton x Reader) 1/7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone,
> 
> Those are a free-form rewrite of AoS (Agents of SHIELD) 3x13!! Remember that. ^^
> 
> Quick note about the characters mentionned:  
> Nathaniel Essex is a Marvel comic character, I rewrote him of course because he isn't an evil ex councilman. Liu Bing is an original character too, so you can picture their faces with who you want. Personnally I see Richard Amritage as Essex and B.D. Wong as Bing
> 
> Agent Leopold "Leo" Fitz: vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/a…  
> Leo Fitz is a Scottish born S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and scientist: engineer to be more precise. He is one of the most prominent members of the agency's sci-tech division. He is a real nerd with his British best friend agent Jemma Simmons and socially awkward, but he has a great sense of humor and likes to tease the new recruits. Personally... he's my fave with Coulson.
> 
> [Found the fanart/drawing on faithhanson7's Pinterest account, but full credit to ChaosNDisaster on Tumblr.]

   _June 2010 - S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Helicarrier, Classified_

“Y/N, don’t say this!” Natasha bit and closed the door of the room behind her.

You sighed and threw your hands in the air dramatically. “Why can’t I?!” You cried.

“’Cause this isn’t true. I’ve never wanted to be part of this mission with Stark.” She remarked.

“You know what, Tasha? I don’t want to talk about this.” You brushed it off.

“Then what? What do we do?” The redhead asked, yet you didn’t want to argue with her.

“I don’t know.” You sat on your bed, the one from the room you shared with Natasha in the Helicarrier. “You could’ve told me the boss assigned to spy on my brother. That’s it.”

“It was two weeks ago; don’t you think it’s too late to be mad at me?” She drawled.

“I’m not mad at you. I don’t like when Fury is having those secrets about my family.”

 _‘Attention to Agent Barton and Agent Stark.’_ Jasper Sitwell’s voice echoed in your personal space on the ship. _‘You are requested in the west side’s conference room. Urgent mission.’_

“I gotta go.”

While you went to the Helicarrier’s west side area, you found Clint on your way and walked by leaps and bounds to step inside the conference room where Phil and Hill were waiting for you; sitting at the edge of the long lacquered wood table.

“Agent Coulson, Agent Hill.” Clint and you smiled.

“Sit down,” Phil stood from his chair and turned on the plasma TV. “Agents, we have a tough mission for you today.”

“What is it?” You asked whilst you both took your seats.

"Nathaniel Essex.” The guy’s photo and his personal file appeared on the screen, “a former member of our World Security Council. He left it, a year ago, but we know he found bad interests in other countries.” Phil turned his head to you, “this man always had quite an obsession over people like _you_ when he was in the council. A crazy obsession."

Clint arched his brows, “with people with powers?”

Your mentor confirmed and continued, “he has a stake in almost every country's economy. He spent a lifetime and a fortune building influence. We know, from Agent Ward’s last undercover mission in China that the country is prepared to establish a home for some enhanced people. It appears Essex is currently waiting for his long prepared flight to China."

"He wants to build a kind of sanctuary state?” You asked, utterly confused by the former councilman’s motivation to order a construction of this type. Why this man would trap people like you in a cage-like home? What was his motivation to do so?

"We don’t know it yet, but if it’s the case there will be a few obstacles.” Hill answered, “he needs the influence of the head of the Chinese Department of State Affairs, Liu Bing."

Clint glanced to you then to Hill back and forth. "If he has the right passes, Essex could do whatever he wants. Even experience on regular people."

She nodded, “that’s why this mission is level 7 in the field. You go there and get as many information as you can. Once you have those, Coulson will send the team to help you if it’s necessary. You’ll have exactly twelve hours before the Chinese government comes in.”

“Who’s in the backup team?” The archer asked while you read Nathaniel Essex’s file.

“The agents Natasha Romanoff, Brock Rumlow and Jack Rollins.” Phil answered.

“It has to be very tough to send the whole STRIKE Team.” You cocked a brow.

“Indeed,” The deputy Director stood from her seat and crossed her arms. “You will have no weapons and you’ll be wearing total black regular clothes. We don’t want the ex councilman to know S.H.I.E.L.D. is tracking him while he is focusing on his work there.”

The other level 9 agent continued, “two governments, two of the _most powerful_ countries on this planet, are involved. You know the protocol if anything happens in this case?” You looked at each other, with Clint, a second and nodded firmly. “Come back home safe, ok?”

You both rose up, “roger that.”

*****************************************

 _Six hours later -_ _Hohhot_ _, Inner Mongolia, China_

The spies you are intercepted Essex at the airport in time and managed to take the same flight as the former councilman, in his private jet. Curled up like sardines in their can, in the baggage compartment, you tapped your head against the wall as a cure to your boredom.

“Damn.” You tried to move between the suitcases. “There’s only Essex and Bing in this flight, but they took more clothes than what’s inside my whole closet… and I have a lot there.”

“Billionaire life could be so tiring, right?” Clint chuckled when you hit his arm.

“Well, sometimes it could be when you have to meet the world’s richest, ugliest, and most hypocritical people.” You admitted, “you’re spared from a life of fake tan and plastic surgery.”

“Poor you. Fortunately, you are away from this world because of our real job.”

“Got that right, birdy.” You grinned.

“When we think about it, it doesn’t really change from our usual life.” He mused.

 _‘Barton, Y/N, are you there? Come in. Over.’_ Phil asked through your earpieces. Your only spy tech among a target designator.

“Sorry, can’t talk right now, Coulson.” Clint whispered when you heard some noises above the compartment. “We are in the belly of the beast.”

“We’ll call you when we land.” You finished.

After another hour of flight in a depressing silence, with your knees crushing against your chest, the jet finally landed in nowhere in the inner country of China.

“Okay, Y/N. We have a window in thirty seconds when they’ll be too much occupied with these Princesses leaving the plane.” Clint turned his head to you, “it’s when you want.”

“Right.” With difficulty, you moved your hands to the trap-door of the baggage compartment and touched it to let the great heat, boiling inside you, melt- one by one -the door locks. “On my mark. Three. Two. _One_.”

You both furiously kicked the door and jumped from the private jet to land on your, feet practically without pain. After a quick roll on the ground, you lowered yourselves to look around you. The plane had landed on a small landing place surrounded by the green forest and as you admired the landscape, Clint spotted two official cars parked near the jet, probably waiting for Bing and Essex with their bodyguards.

“We need to run and hide, before they leave.” The spy advised and brushed a finger on his earpiece, “Coulson, we landed by the way.”

 _‘Okay, follow them now.’_ Your mentor ordered after a moment.

“Yeah, but we have to tag them with the designator first.” You whispered.

“Reason why we’ll do it when they move.” Clint slowly moved from under the jet. “Now!”

You both ran to the near the trees in front of you, without glancing back at the vehicles behind. Looking at your right, after a very long race while you enjoyed the breathtaking Mongolian nature, you could see the only main road in your sight.

“Here.” The archer breathed heavily, “we climb this tree.”

He pointed at the shaft, right next to the road. Your best post to see, drive by, the official cars of the former councilman, Essex, and the Chinese Secretary, Bing.

You climbed the trunk with your bare hands and slightly skinned them because of the dry wood, but you didn’t bother. You just sat next to him, in a large tree branch.

"Oh, I knew I really should’ve stretched before running." Your best friend complained while he spread his right leg.

You used your binoculars and took your breath, "Essex's convoy is heading our way… Hey, where's the de-“ you patted your pockets. “I thought I had it."

"Ah, being cooped up in a jet isn't exactly conducive to blood flow." Clint continued.

You turned to him and exclaimed, "where’s the target designator?"

"Oh, hold on. I got it.” He sat up and took it from his black jacket. “Here you go."

Once the important SUV spent on the road you monitored from your spot, you directed the designator to Essex and Bing’s car and pressed the button to tag it.

"Phoenix to Zephyr, painting target. Do you copy?" You pressed your earpiece. The Zephyr was the Helicarrier’s nickname in the field.

 _'Copy that, Phoenix.'_ Agent Fitz confirmed. He was a very talented engineer; you met at the Science and Technology Academy the year before. _‘Target's lit. We're tracking now.’_

“Where are they going?” Clint asked.

 _'Okay, it looks like Essex's convoy's heading for this decommissioned power plant about 130 kilometers away.'_ Fitz’s Scottish accent informed you.

You raised your eyebrows, "dead in the middle of Nowhereville, Inner Mongolia?"

"Yeah, if Essex and his Chinese patsy want to build some power people sanctuary, why not build it someplace nice and sunny?" Your teammate put in.

 _'Same reason they don't put a prison camp in Malibu...’_ Phil answered, _‘not in my backyard.'_

"That's what the sanctuary really is gonna be, isn't it?” You winced while you climbed off from the tree, your hands burning with scratches. “A prison camp."

_'We'll see what you find when you get there.'_

“That’s my main concern.”

“Here’s a car.” Clint pointed at a Chinese military jeep approaching you, “I have a plan and it requires you playing the damsel in distress.” He smirked and your eyes fell back.

 

Once the car stopped to your level, in the middle of the road where you gracefully faked to be a lady in need, Clint jumped from his hiding spot and punched two of the soldiers.

 _‘Zephyr to Phoenix... we have Essex's convoy, we can guide you to them, but you're gonna need some transport. Will that be a problem?'_ Fitz asked while you continued to fight.

You neutralized the last soldier; of course you didn’t kill them. They were out-cold for a while.

"Nah, I think we're good." You smiled and you both jumped inside the free jeep.

Your best friend drove and followed the only asphalted path by the forest for about thirty minutes and managed to avoid every military convoy or checkpoint on your way. He did it, but with almost an accident at every attempt… spy’s life.

“Clint, you know I’m better driver.” You affirmed.

He laughed and focused on the road, “sure. That’s why you still have your driving license.”

“What? I have my-“ You shook your head, “well, I don’t know who hit a tree last week.”

“Where is this coming-“

 _‘Phoenix, Hawk, could you stop for two seconds?’_ Natasha interrupted, _‘you know your communication with the Zephyr is still on, right?’_

Clint turned to you and smirked, “she can be _so_ annoying.”

 _‘Yeah, you’ll see that when you come back.’_ The redhead threatened.

“We love you too, Natasha.” You chuckled with him.

_‘Hawk, you’ll have another convoy and checkpoint in exactly five kilometers.’_

“Not a problem.” He smirked and abruptly turned the wheels to drive inside the woods.


	23. The Shield - (Clint Barton x Reader) 2/7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick note about the character mentionned:  
> Richard Fisk is a viliain Marvel comic book character. :D
> 
> Hope you enjoy. xx

_One hour later - A forest, Inner Mongolia, China_

Under the sky covered by the darkness of the Milky Way, the only audible sounds in the shadowed green forest were your deep inhalations and the gentle noise of the dead small wood branch, which broke under your feet.

“I can’t believe you hit a tree with the car!” You hissed and stopped when your best friend stooped to watch around him if you were followed.

“Shh.” Clint grabbed your arm to make you sit on your knees, “I heard some soldiers.”

“It’s us running like idiots in the middle of a Chinese forest.” You murmured.

When you passed the last checkpoint on the main road, everything went drastically wrong, a car chase occurred and you had to run the last kilometers towards Bing and Essex’s facility because your jeep broke down. After an hour, you eventually outdistanced these Chinese soldiers thanks to the team in the Helicarrier, which guided you through the woods.

As the sound of the soldiers’ boots faded away, you turned to Clint. “Better driver than me, huh?”

“I am!” He whisper-shouted, “I don’t think we could’ve finished with this jeep anyway.”

“Oh, now it’s the car’s fault?” You questioned, sarcasm clear in your tone.

“Y/N/N, you know what? Shut up.” He retaliated.

“Of course, when Mr. Old Man runs out of excuses he tells the world to shut up.”

_‘Zephyr to Phoenix,’_ Phil interrupted. _‘Focus on your mission. The cars stopped next to the facility, thirty minutes ago. I want information on it.’_

“On our way, Zephyr.” You inhaled and stood from the grass, “sometimes these earpieces can be a pain in the ass.”

_‘You have no idea.’_ Natasha agreed.

“C’mon, the compound isn’t too far.” Clint patted your shoulder. He led the way through the forest and when you quickly reached its end, you stopped to see the great power plant you expected, surrounded by four thin chimneys still in action. You spotted the building in the middle of them, which was lightened in the inside and it seemed this place hadn’t ever been decommissioned like Agent Fitz told you.

“Quite pretty, in its own way." You commented, walking until you had a good spot overlooking the facility and then, you both crawled on the grass. "Zephyr, we're in sight, but no visuals on the target. From where we are, I can't see anything but silhouettes with my thermal vision."

"Can we get thermals?" The archer asked as he looked through the night binoculars.

_'Yep.’_ Fitz answered to your best friend’s request. _‘We've got eyes on you, Hawk, but we can't see inside the plant. Internal lining must be blocking thermal or ground-penetrating radar. They are hiding something.’_

"Essex's SUV is inside.” Clint described what he saw through the binoculars. “Parked in the loading-bay area, along with several military vehicles. Must be their base of operations during construction." He finished and gave you the optical device.

_'They've wiped out almost 30 square kilometers of forest just to make room for this place. You wonder why the planet's dying.'_ Fitz stated and Clint chuckled.

"Got that right, Leo.” You pressed your earpiece while you used the binoculars. “You and Simmons watched that documentary I mentioned?"

_'Oh, yes! The one about the Amazon? It-'_

_'And you'll talk about it later,’_ Coulson- like a dad who scolded his children -cut in. _‘We need eyes and ears down there. Essex told Ward point-blank he's putting together an advanced army, so he's either here to add more soldiers or to set up shop.'_

"Copy that. If we're gonna infiltrate, a surveillance package would help." You notified.

"And guns. Don't forget those." Clint added.

_'I'll send the backup team your way.'_

“Phil, if we can get to Essex, have we got the green light?"

_'You want to assassinate a former member of the World Council on Chinese soil, knowing that if we get caught our actions are tied to the U.S. government in any way, that, it'll be considered an act of war?'_ Phil kind of answered like it’s always been obvious.

"So... you're saying...?" You asked, again, innocently.

_‘Pretty sure that's gonna be a no.’_ Natasha commented.

_'It's a big no. Find out what Essex's up to and get back to me. And keep a low profile.'_

"Copy. Over and out." Clint finished and you looked through your night binoculars as a comfortable silence filled the air after an already tough day of work.

During a long moment where nothing new happened around the facility, you finally turned your head to your best friend, who was leaning on his elbows with his head on his hands.

"Hi." You smiled.

"Hi." He answered with a cute cheesy smile. "Kind of nice, isn't it? Reminds me of my wife and I, alone... in the woods-"

"No details, please,” you chuckled and used the device. “Though, you're cute."

"Get your mind out of the gutter, Y/N/N. I was just trying to recall the last time I went away with her on vacation." He paused as you piqued his curiosity, “it's the same with you. When was the last time you had a proper vacation?"

"Well, let's see,” you lowered your hands and searched your mind. “Rio, Caesar Park Hotel and then Florence, Italy," you smirked when you remembered your time in those hotel rooms.

"Stakeout on a mission with… Grant Ward.” Clint kicked a brow and your smile faded away as you coughed multiple times, trying to hide the light blush on your cheeks.

"Malibu?” You came back to the main topic.

“Visiting your brother doesn't count."

“Okay,” you surrendered, “the word I’m looking for is ‘never’, right?"

"No, not never. You're exaggerating.” He pleaded and his words made you think about what you were up to do when you signed up as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent.

"This is the job.” You deadpanned, “we have to make certain sacrifices, like free time."

"Where do you draw the line? The sacrifices we've made, the compromises we've made-"

“Wait a moment.” The confusion in your eyes, you remembered it was better to remove your earpieces because you knew where he was going with this. “Where's this coming from?"

"You remember this guy last year?” Clint asked and you nodded as the painful memories of this assignment came back to your mind.

You knew he referred to the psycho murderer you met the year prior when you infiltrated a law firm in New York. Unfortunately, two friends of yours outside S.H.I.E.L.D. got involved and almost got killed if it wasn’t for the two other agents on the mission with you who sacrificed their lives to save your friends.

“Richard Fisk killed two agents because they discovered his plan to murder your blind friend and you!" Clint lowered his voice when he heard movements from the forest behind you, “this guy killed my friends... and we went on a mission with him six months ago."

"I constantly disagree with our agency and you know how much I hate when they make these decisions, but the World Council brought him in because he had intel we _desperately_ needed."

"And Fury approved it!” He whisper-shouted, “like they didn’t follow Ivan Vanko’s track when they knew he could be dangerous. And two weeks ago, he almost killed your brother!"

"Vanko's dead." You retorted, but Clint had all the reasons in the world to get angry.

"And here we are, chasing a man who may be the head of the biggest bio-tech organization, and our orders are to surveil him? Why? So, he can come back to haunt us later? There's a pattern emerging, and it always ends badly." When Clint finished, you looked at each other, trying to read your features in a moment of pure silence as the words flew in the thick air.

"Oh, forget it. I just need a break." Your best friend turned his attention back to the facility and used the binoculars, leaving you puzzled with interrogation.

You put back your earpieces on and glanced at him, “are you talking about a vacation or something else?"

"Hold on,” he zoomed in. “We've got movement." He handed you back the device and you looked through them to see at the entrance of the site, a man tied up to a wheelchair with a connected hood over his head while a group of soldiers escorted the chair inside the facility’s main building.

"What's that tech wrapped around his head? It's got to be an enhanced."

"They're holding him prisoner. Coulson needs to see this." Clint suggested.

“Gāojǔ shuāngshǒu!” Four Chinese soldiers appeared in front of you and hid the facility behind them as they pointed the flashlights of their guns to your eyes.  
{Hands up!}

"Well, that's one way to infiltrate the premises." The archer analyzed and your raised your hands, still lying on the grass.

Like the militaries commanded, you slowly stoop up and perfectly faked to be afraid. Your cover there was to play the French-American couple of tourists lost on their way for the road. That was the protocol you shared with your best friend in case you were caught because you didn’t want to mention S.H.I.E.L.D. and compromise their secret work.

"Please, please, don't shoot.” You played the innocent girl terrified by the rifles, “oh, my gosh. We are so sorry."

"We were just looking for the main road. Out for a spot of mushroom picking." Clint bent down to take a shiitake from the ground. "You see? Mush-rooms?"

"My- My phone battery died, and we got lost.” You smiled, “do you guys have a map?"

"Tāmen yǐ wǒmen wèi báichī," the soldier turned to the other one, next to him. " Wǒ huì dǎ diànhuà gěi chuánzhǎng."  
{They think we are idiots. […] I’ll call the Captain.}

“Nǐ shì bùshì báichī." You smirked and answered, "zhǐshì yǒudiǎn màn."  
{You’re not idiot […] just a little slow.}

You concluded the verbal exchange as you grabbed the barrel shotgun of a soldier before he could shoot at you and hit him in the jaw with his own rifle, while Clint fought with two other soldiers at the same time, using his best punches and kicks to get out of here.

You rolled on the ground and kicked the fourth soldier on the crotch. When he bent down, he gave you the opportunity to kick hard his neck. The first soldier stood up and as he ran in the forest, you toook his rifle from the ground and threw it at the back of his head, causing an immediate fall on the ground and you rushed to him to check his pulse, if he was still alive. Clint finally joined you and when the military tried to stand up, he kicked his jaw… again.

"He was just doing his job." You remarked.

"So was Mao Zedong.” Clint panted.

_‘Bùzhǎngmen láile.’_ A Chinese soldier talked though the walkie-talkie on the ground.  
{The Ministers have arrived.}

“What did he say?” You teammate asked, unsure if he clearly heard it.

“Hill said we had twelve hours before the Chinese government comes in.”

_‘Y/N, Clint, the Quinjet landed inside the forest.’_ Natasha’s voice echoed through your earpieces. _‘We’ll guide you to us.’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you recognized the friends I mentionned. One of them is a very important character in the Marvel Universe. *cough*On Netflix*cough*


	24. The Shield - (Clint Barton x Reader) 3/7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick note about the new character mentionned:
> 
> Agent Simmons: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/15/53/fd/1553fdc5bb494af5e3a1c568a306d610.jpg
> 
> Jemma Simmons is an English-born S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and scientist. A genius biochemist, she is one of the youngest and most prominent members of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s research division, along with her friend and partner, Leo Fitz.  
> She is known as the attractive nerd and also a science buff on her profile for S.H.I.E.L.D. She has a normally calm and rational attitude, often relying on what is or isn't scientific fact. She is very forgiving and she has a deep affection towards her best friend/crush Leo Fitz.

   _Quinjet landing spot -_ _Inner Mongolia, China_

“Here.” Clint pointed with his flashlight in front of him as he looked at his smart watch, from its digital map; he saw the Quinjet’s location after you had strolled inside the forest for a few minutes. When you spotted the jet with the ramp opened, you quickly walked inside, hands full of weapons you stole from the soldiers you fought against, minutes earlier.

"Where'd you get the hardware?" Rumlow asked, eyebrows rose at the sight of your hands and you noticed they were all wearing their S.H.I.E.L.D. suits, except for Clint and you.

"We ran into some company,” you responded and put the weapons on the seats. “Left them tied up in the forest."

It was Rollins’ turn to arch his brows when he saw Clint putting some mushrooms in his bag, the same he picked when you walked up to the jet. "Are those mushrooms?" He asked.

"Mm-hmm,” the archer turned his head to his teammate and rolled his eyes. "For soup."

"It's good, actually." Natasha acknowledged when she left her co-pilot seat.

"Picked up some chatter on the radio.” You cut in and snapped them back in your current mission, “Essex and the man he brought with him, Liu Bing, are gonna have some kind of powwow with a few Chinese Cabinet Ministers."

"Cabinet Ministers? Here?" Natasha interrogated and you confirmed, “there was supposed to be only Bing, the head of the department of State Affairs."

Clint walked next to you and finished your report, “we think they're here for the same reason as Essex... to get their eyes on an enhanced."

"Do you think they already have somebody?" Rollins asked.

"We saw a man being carted off inside the compound, restrained by advanced biotech."

Rumlow turned his head to Natasha and then back to you, "Essex told Ward the sanctuary hasn't even started construction yet."

"We better get inside, get surveillance up and running." The redhead advised.

"How's everyone's Mandarin?" You asked and everyone turned back to their own stuff.

"My pronunciation's not as perfect as yours." Clint confessed and put a gun in his jeans belt.

Natasha and Rollins glanced at each other, “they know us since our mission in Hong Kong."

Then you turned to Rumlow for a positive answer, but he shook his head and loaded his own gun, "I used to protect Essex when he was councilman; he'd recognize me for sure."

"Guys, seriously, we're spies supposed to speak twelve languages.” You scoffed, grabbing your vibranium knives and finally loaded your gun, “I thought we were helping each other."

"Well, you're the only one here who infiltrates, Rosetta Stone," Clint chuckled and patted your shoulder. "Plus, you have your designed nano mask... so; you'll fit in the crowd."

"But we'll be in the wings, armed and ready." Rollins finished and checked his stun baton.

"Okay, let's try this on." You went to your seat to open your briefcase and you put on your face the very first Photostatic veil designed by you and another S.H.I.E.L.D. engineer, for your missions. This technological marvel allowed you to mimic anybody’s face once you put it on. It also included a voice modifier that could perfectly mimic a wide range of voices. This device was your best ally in those undercover missions and your best secret weapon.

“What do I look like?” You asked, turning to the team.

“Wow!” Rollins whistled and approached you to take a closer look at your face, “this thing is impressive! You can play their soldier and they won’t notice anything wrong in your identity.”

“Thanks.” You winked and finished fitting the mask on your skin.

"Rollins and I go to the back of the facility," Rumlow ordered whilst you came back next to the cockpit seats, "Romanoff and Barton will escort Stark to the main doors. Y/N, once you're inside, you join us to steal a military uniform and we’ll find the security hub to locate Essex and his team."

"Roger that."

"Remember our mission protocol. Low profile in and out, no one gets caught." Natasha repeated and you all approved.

 

*****************************************

_A few minutes later - Essex’s Base of Operation, Inner Mongolia, China_

With your guns in hands, you all rushed inside the facility under the night without being caught and the team separated in two. Rumlow and Rollins discretely entered the building by the back whilst Nat, Clint and you ran in the middle of containers in front of the main entrance.

You stopped against a giant box and looked at Natasha. "They had the enhanced on a gurney, went through those doors." You pointed at where you were supposed to enter.

“Patrol coming,” Clint warned as he heard the voices of militaries coming your way and you ran to hide inside one of the containers scattered next to the most interesting building.

“Do I have a minute to browse?” Your partner in crime asked, “I want to see if these guys sells anti-matter arrowheads.” He requested, but ignoring his voice, you threw a glance outside and saw the two soldiers walking towards three another where was the main entrance.

"We could just take them out." You suggested, still ready to shoot.

"What part of ‘low profile’ don't you understand?" Natasha whisper-shouted and walked next to you, “it's bad enough that we have four missing soldiers out in the woods."

“They are not dead… just shaken,” you pointed out and Clint tried to go outside, but another patrol came and he rushed back inside your container.

"Low profile, birdy." You mocked Natasha’s tone and walked to the background, laughing. You were stopped in your tracks as your feet hit… another one. You pointed your flashlight on the thing you just collided against and bent down to see a female body covered by a tarp.

"Looks like someone else got here first." You informed your teammates and Nat stopped next to you, stooping to the body.

"The enhanced you saw?" She asked as you all weren’t surprised; Phil had told you about this possibility because he knew this sanctuary could raise some hate from the people.

"No, we are looking for a man." You removed the hood from the woman’s head and Clint took a closer look at her face only to shake his head.

"This could be a problem."

"What, you know her?" The redhead interrogated her best friend and he nodded.

"Faye Tsai. She's the Chinese Prime Minister's personal attaché." Clint revealed and you shrugged, trying to play down the situation.

"What are the chances she just tripped and fell and wrapped herself in a nice… comfy tarp?"

"We need to get this to Coulson and Simmons." The archer ignored.

“Phoenix to Zephyr, we have a body.” You pressed your earpiece, “a member of the Chinese government was murdered before we came here. Do you copy?”

_‘Copy that, Phoenix,’_ Phil answered. _‘This is getting harder than we thought. Barton and Romanoff will scan me the body with the tab adapted I gave her.’_

"Y/N, you go inside,” Clint ordered before you could protest, “Nat and I'll do this alone."

“Okay,” you glanced outside the container and when the soldiers had their backs turned to your spot, you lowered yourself and ran toward the back entrance of the main building where Rumlow and Rollins were probably already inside the security hub.

You sneaked inside for a few seconds before Rollins almost hit you in the face with his stun baton, fortunately you ducked and avoided his attack as you finally threw your hands up.

“Hey- hey, this is me. Look at my clothes, this is Y/N.” You smiled and even under the mask he eventually recognized you after he had apologized. “It means my work’s perfect,” you mused. “Sometimes I can be blown-away by my own genius.”

_‘Is this you or your brother?’_ Clint laughed.

_‘Her brother, obviously. I know, I worked for him,’_ Natasha answered as you walked inside the facility to find the computer room. At the door was a patrol of three female soldiers and a male, this group was just perfect for your cover as a Chinese military.

“What are we waiting for, gentlemen?” You smirked and all ran to the soldiers, neutralizing their only chance to call for backup as you jumped to do a headscissors to the first woman.

“You know I heard your little conversation with Barton earlier?” Rumlow told you when he fought the only man with his other teammate.

“What conversation?” You back flipped when two soldiers tried to sweep you off the floor and Rollins hit them both _hard_.

“The one about vacations.” Brock locked the soldier with his arms around and you jumped to kick the guy’s face, “and I don’t remember either.”

“The Ice King’s talking about something else than work. Weird.” You quipped and rushed to the last female soldier and hit her stomach with your knee. The great shock caused the door of the security hub to smash open and you all stepped inside, dragging the knocked out bodies with you.

“Low profile they said,” you muttered.

“It’s because of the work that I heard you with the earpieces.” Rumlow remarked and you went on your knees to steal the field uniform of the out-cold soldier.

"You're killing me, Brock."

"Look, I'm not siding with Barton." STRIKE Team leader took the guns from her belt and gave them to you, "I'm just saying, I don't remember you taking a little vacation."

"We’re spies; we don’t have time for this." Your other male teammate defended you until you piqued his curiosity, “but not even in Monaco?"

"I was in the middle of a mission. I had to get back to Johannesburg." You deadpanned as you quickly removed your black casual clothes and put on the Chinese uniform with your own gear. "Can you cover our tracks?" You asked Rollins and buttoned up the khaki shirt.

"Yeah, sure, no problem." He turned to the very old main computer, “oh… okay."

"What's wrong?" Rumlow questioned.

"Well, this thing is very ancient."

"Come on, Jack. I hacked the Pentagon with older than that,” you teased and put on the official Chinese army hat. "You can fight whoever the hell you want. You're gonna let an old computer trip you up?"

"Found Essex and Bing. Looks like they’re done with the facility tour." Rumlow commented what he was watching on the screens of the hub, through the video surveillance of the facility.

"Well, I'll get eyes and ears on them." You notified and the leader of the team agreed.

"Okay, we'll run back end from here, pipe it up to the Helicarrier."

"Be careful, beauty," Rollins advised and laughed when the rage was clearly written on your features. You hated when he called you ‘beauty’ or ‘sweet-cheeks’. "Wait, wait.” He stopped you before you could leave, “hold on. Don't use your knives there; they are both designed with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s official logo."

"Here,” you handed them to Brock, “take it and don't do something stupid with 'em. They are made of vibranium and it’s a precious birthday gift from Coulson."

_‘Yeah, I tried to play with them and she almost stabbed me,’_ Clint put in and you laughed.


	25. The Shield - (Clint Barton x Reader) 4/7

_Essex’s Base of Operation, Inner Mongolia, China_

When you left your team on their work, you walked through the dark hallways of the old power plant only lightened by antique bulbs while Rumlow guided you to Essex and Bing’s steps. Still under your nano mask that mimicked the face of a female Chinese soldier, you reached S.H.I.E.L.D.’s targets and you discretely fitted into the group of militaries as you followed them to the largest hall of the building which was surrounded by three different staircases that could be potential spots for Hawkeye.

"Just think what the United States did for the Native American populations,” Essex pointed out to Bing as he climbed the last stairs with you behind, “if we hadn't created the reservations, they would've been wiped out entirely."

Bing agreed and stopped in front of a table where the plans of the new building were scattered, in the middle of the hall. "Yes, and this is exactly what we wish to propose to the Chinese Presidential office building a kind of a... reservation for enhanced people." They both chuckled and the politician turned to the soldiers, including you. "Uh, let us gather, please… Mr. Essex. Nathaniel, on behalf of the Minister of Internal Affairs and the Minister of Emergency Situations, we all welcome you."

While they all reunited around Essex with Bing, who continued talking with him, you walked around the group of men and in between the pallets of the construction site, you connected your smart watch with a nano camera that you left on a pallet next to the soldiers and Essex.

“We’re up guys.” You whispered to your earpiece and turned around, “Zephyr, do you copy?”

 _‘Perfect. We have ears and eyes on them, Phoenix,’_ Fitz answered and you came back to your first spot, away from the group as you listened carefully to Bing’s little speech.

“We would be very grateful for your assistance because I'm afraid our shared vision of sanctuary for these people is in jeopardy."

"How so?" The former councilman interrogated and glanced at the plans on the table.

"The Prime Minister recently sent his personal attaché, Faye Tsai to this site.” The Chinese politician responded, “the reason... to shut down this entire project immediately."

 _'So, that's why we found her body,'_ Clint commented. _'They assassinated her.'_

"Your Prime Minister is against a sanctuary?" Essex faked to be shocked.

"Yes. Because his opposition supports it, namely, the Ministers you see before you," Bing pointed at the two Chinese Ministers, standing up around the table, "Mrs. Tsai is dead at the hands of General Chan Ho Yin because of our disagreement." The man announced bluntly.

 _'This guy is Minister of Defense; I’ve crossed paths with him in the past. Former KGB assassin.’_ Nat informed you.

 _'And still at it, apparently.'_ Your partner in crime remarked, _‘now, we need to know how this guy killed her.’_

"The General found the attaché's position on enhanced people offensive because he is a powered person," Bing revealed and you tried to understand if whether what you just heard was real or not. You blinked at the men and tried to get every new information in.

 _'It's the world's first enhanced politician,'_ the archer interjected, _‘one who happens to have access to nuclear launch codes.'_

"That does complicate matters, doesn't it?" Essex inquired with a tiny smirk.

"We know you have a history with our Prime Minister, so we were hoping that-"

"You were hoping that I could help you smooth over this little incident so that our dream of a sanctuary wouldn't die here today." The former councilman interrupted his Asian ally.

 _'The son of a bitch’s loving this. He’s got them right in the palm of his hand.'_ Phil observed.

"Where is the General now?" The man Coulson referred to, asked and you hoped you would get your answers to Tsai’s cause of death.

"He's, uh, on site… in restraints." Bing stuttered.

 _'Must be the guy Y/N/N and I saw.'_ Clint guessed and you agreed in a breathy whisper.

"I can help you,” Essex offered and strolled around the table, “but not because I'm a fan of powered individuals working for China. Truth is, I am also an enhanced human." He announced it, very proud of him and your team was forced to see that your mission became a lot more difficult. You had two evil people with superhuman powers, free and ready to hurt people to get what they wanted.

"And I thought I was the only one with cool abilities," you kicked a brow.

 _‘Aww, they stepped on your moment,'_ Clint pouted sarcastically.

"This is bigger than any single country's fate.” The former councilman put his hands on the table and continued his propaganda, “we are at a tipping point, where humanity... is going to make some difficult choices about the preservation of their very existence. And we, we enhanced are the key to the world's survival."

"Phil, you didn't tell me he had gone this crazy," you murmured discretely.

_'He's really stepped it up a notch.'_

Essex continued in his craziness, “you must ally with us; build a home for us, a sanctuary, like you're doing here. But we will need a leader… and unfortunately for all of us, the Chinese Prime Minister is not that leader."

“And I used to wonder why the world population is afraid of people like us,” you coughed.

 _'I bet Essex knows who the leader they need is,'_ Clint theorized.

"What do you suggest we do?" Bing questioned the former councilman.

“Ha, I think the solution is obvious. I mean, why keep a man in restraints when he can single-handedly eliminate the problem for us? It is time that we let the General loose," Essex concluded and everybody stared at him in a complete silence while they didn’t how to react to this obvious suggestion.

 _'This isn't about a sanctuary,'_ the archer commented, shocked as the worries spread inside his mind, _'Essex's staging a coup!'_ He finished and you watched as the group of men began to leave the hall, talking about the plan to overthrow the current Chinese regime.

"Heads up. Essex is on the move,” you brushed a finger on your earpiece while you followed, two feet away, the group of soldiers leading Essex and Bing inside the facility where they would probably see the General in his room, still tied up.

 _'Where are you, Frosty?'_ Clint asked and you continued in a straight line.

"South end, upper level. I think they're going to get Chan Ho Yin."

“Hēi, nǐ! Tíngzhǐ!” A man yelled from behind and you continued to walk with the group, but as he insisted, you were forced to stop and turn to him. Unfortunately, when you did so, the group took the single corner of the hallway and disappeared behind you.  
{Hey, you! Stop!}

“Shì.” You pretended and played with the character, straightening up like a real soldier.  
{Yes.}

“Nǐ de lǐngdài. Zài nǎ'er ne?” The soldier asked and you smirked as you touched your chest.  
{Your tie. Where is it?}

Without discussing with the man, you swirled around, shoved your elbow on his neck and then smashed his face against your knee to finally drag his knocked out body out of the way. You hid him behind a closed door of the facility and followed the steps of Essex and Bing.

"I lost them!" You exclaimed as you ran into the hallway and the only door the group could walk through was locked, "Jack, little help?" You asked, looking at the camera above you.

 _'Give me a minute,'_ Rollins typed on his keyboard.

"Okay, Clint, I'll need you here,” you called and he responded, saying he’d be there soon.

'I've got a visual on the General Chan Ho Yin,’ Rumlow informed the team. ‘He's still locked up. I'm just not sure where.'

"Is Essex with him?" You asked.

_'No, just a couple of FSO agents and two guards. Those cameras are showing isolated parts of the power plant.'_

"We can't let him leave the building with Essex."

“I’m here,” Clint rushed and stopped next to you. “Do you need a hand to get in?”

“If you could follow and watch Essex from above when Rollins will open the door for me.”

 _'Zephyr to ground team,’_ Agent Simmons’ English accent called you. _‘We have a cause of death on the Prime Minister's personal attaché, Mrs. Tsai. All internal signs show she was strangled, with multiple fractures to her larynx and hyoid bone. The external abrasions, ligature marks, and impressions show that she killed by the General's hands… only.'_

"Damn, it looks like the same thing with this Winter Soldier," you whispered and Clint looked at you, waiting for more details about your theory. "Since what happened in Ossetia, Natasha has tried to track the guy down and we only know he has superstrength."

"Badass..." the archer whistled and you huffed a laugh, “but why ‘Winter Soldier’?”

“I don’t know,” you scoffed, "if he worked for Jamaica, he’d be the ‘Summer Soldier’?”

 _‘Do I have to remind you this guy almost killed you, Y/N?’_ Nat refreshed your memory.

"Seriously, if Ho Yin can snap bones and kill you with his bare hands, then the Prime Minister's in real danger." Clint claimed and crossed his arms over his chest, “Rollins, where's the General now? You still have eyes on him?”

 _'Hold on, this fossil is deleting the video footage of our presence,’_ he paused and you waited. _‘Ok, I'm trying to get you through the door. Converting to Unicode, and... '_ When a small beep was heard in the dark hallway, the security’s door unlocked and you opened it to run after Essex, and his men while Clint turned to the left, where the main entrance of the building was.

“Xièxiè nǐ, huǒjì.” You breathed to Rollins.  
{Thanks, man.}

_'Stark, forget about Essex. Hang a right at the next hallway instead, that-‘_

“No! He’s as dangerous as Ho Yin,” you interrupted Rumlow and continued to search for him.

 _‘Hang a right that should take you to the General! But you better get there quick, 'cause he's free. They just cut him loose.'_ He ordered firmly and you groaned loudly.

As you did like he told, you ran to your right, but couldn’t find the General where he was supposed to be or even some militaries. You presumed he already left with his small group of soldiers and you quickly backed off towards your best friend’s spot upper on a staircase.

“I can’t find him, Brock, where-“

"Hold on,” Clint cut in and his voice echoed behind you, “I've got eyes on him, but Essex’s not here, neither Bing." As soon as he finished, you stormed out of the corridor and joined him on a railing overlooking the same hall you walked in earlier from where you saw the Chinese General standing by the table with the FSO.

 _‘They are still inside with their security detail.'_ Natasha notified as she was still in the container outside the building, she was the only who could see if they had left.

"What's Essex's play here?” Clint questioned the former councilman’s plan, “he sows the seeds of a coup, and then avoid the assassin."

 _‘Must be some other angle.’_ She whispered.

“Okay, so now we have to find the ex councilman,” you interrupted. “Brock, any sign of him?”

_‘He’s still in a room next to the hall with Bing; they are looking at the plans for the construction. I’ll call you, if they move out. Y/N, you stay in the shadows with Barton.’_

“Copy that,” you whispered and continued to examine Ho Yin, who stayed still probably waiting for Bing and Essex to come out of the meeting room, so they could discuss the plan to assassinate the Prime Minister.

 _‘Looks like we have some company heading for the compound.’_ Natasha observed from the outside and your new surveillance was interrupted as the pales of several helicopters approaching the facility at high speed rumbled inside the building.

“Who the hell are those?” Clint asked


	26. The Shield - (Clint Barton x Reader) 5/7

**Warnings:** Violence, mention of death and very light graphic description of a dead body.

 

   _Nathaniel Essex’s Base of Operation, Inner Mongolia, China_

 _‘Looks like we have some company heading for the compound.’_ Natasha observed from outside the building and your surveillance on the General inside the hall was interrupted when you heard the pales of several helicopters approaching the facility at high speed.

“Who the hell are in those?” Clint asked and the blades flapping of the aircrafts sounded above your building as they passed to land on the north side of the plant.

 _'Okay! Everyone, listen up,'_ Phil cut in and ordered to the rest of STRIKE Team, _'Essex isn't taking the General anywhere because he doesn't have to! This hit is going down here and now. The Chinese Prime Minister is arriving with his security detail, and there are two enhanced assassins on the loose. You need to stop them.'_

"Stop them how?” You asked, raising your brows, “we don't even know what Essex can do."

 _‘Wait a minute, I have eyes on him in the room-‘_ Rumlow interjected, but stopped when he saw something odd on his monitor from the security hub. _‘What the… Holy… uh, big problem, guys! He just disappeared, we can't see him anymore... Essex literally became invisible while Bing is still inside.’_ Those words said, you turned to Clint eyes widening in shock.

"I guess we figured out Essex's power is invisibility,” you whispered as you were still looking over Ho Yin, from a railing with your best friend.

"Yep," Clint confirmed and sighed, concluding the mission would be tougher than expected.

"Just to be clear. We have Invisible Man and a cheaper version of Captain America, hanging around the facility, ready to kill the Chinese Prime Minister." You analyzed and yet again the archer nodded, "and we have to stop an assassination without being caught by any of them."

"Sure... I mean, we've got nothing better to do like try to find the rest of our team, find a way home, and get away from all the homicidal enhanced… No offense against people like you."

“No hard feelings, birdy,” you reassured.

 _‘Focus, on the mission guys,’_ Phil cut into your conversation. _'Protect the Prime Minister. He's walking into a trap. You need to get back in the hub for the plan.'_ Following your orders, you both sneaked out of the staircase and rushed back to the security hub where Natasha, Rollins and Rumlow were waiting for the next orders while they prepared their guns.

"Gang's all here." You smirked as STRIKE Team assembled and you loaded your only gun after you had finally removed the nano mask from your face as well as the military uniform and you had put back on your casual black clothes.

"What's the plan?" Rumlow asked your superior inside the Helicarrier.

_‘Barton, secure the Prime Minister with Rumlow and Rollins. Y/N and Romanoff contain the General. Try to get him outside. We'll send the containment module down to the South exit.'_

“Copy that, but what about Essex? He’s probably still inside, just invisible.”

“Use your thermal vision,” Rollins suggested and turned to the rest. "We also need a distraction once we're there." With that, you began to leave the computer room.

"I have one, but it involves you and Rumlow hitting numerous people," Clint responded while you all ran to the hall and you finally hid behind several pallets of the construction site as the person threatened by a coup arrived in and finished climbing the stairs to stop exactly where the former councilman had his first conversation about the sanctuary state with Bing.

 _‘Essex isn’t here,’_ Clint told as he glanced around from behind a pallet with Rumlow and Rollins while Natasha stood next to you still away from the group of men.

"We have eyes on the Prime Minister,” you whispered to the team inside the Helicarrier, “and he's not alone. The General is with him and Bing as well,” you commented and the Prime Minster started a conversation about the sanctuary with the Secretary Liu Bing. The Chinese politicians quickly argued about its safety for the people and things got heated in a fit of rage.

 _‘On my mark, you throw the smoke grenades.’_ Rumlow whispered when the General began to suspiciously approach the Prime Minister, _‘three. Two. One.’_

"We're up!" Natasha threw two grenades in the middle of the hall and a thick white smoke blinded the small group of men while Rollins and Rumlow stormed from the pallets to fight six soldiers who were protecting the General only.

“This way, sir,” Clint took the Prime Minister’s arm, who was perplexed and surprised to see your team attacking and they walked to the other side of the building to get him to safety.

“Jìhuà de biàngēng, yībān," you ran to Ho Yin, with Natasha and pushed him out of the way to lead him outside the hall. You went downstairs towards the south exit as Phil ordered.

{Change of plan, General.}

 _'Somebody report,’_ Coulson commanded, _’ do we have the enhanced at a safe distance from the Prime Minister?'_

"Yeah, I've got the General with me." You informed and Natasha followed you while you walked into the humid and dimly lit basement of the old power plant.

 _'The Prime Minister's with me.'_ Clint panted, _‘the rest is punching their way out of this.’_

After your best friend finished, the General Chan Ho Yin abruptly turned around to look at you and freed himself from your grip. "Nǐ zhī bù zhīdào nǐ shì shuí dǎjiāodào?"

{Do you know who you are dealing with?}

"Oh, yes we do." Natasha stepped in front of him and you could hear several gunshots from the floor above yours, recognizing the sound of Clint’s favorite and unique gun.

“Nataliya? Eto bylo kakoye-to vremya. Ty skuchal po mne?” Ho Yin murmured in Russian with an obvious smirk as he recognized the redhead from the time she spied for the K.G.B.

{Natalia? It’s been a while. Missed me?}

The military glanced at you and his punch flew to Nat’s face, who ducked in time and twisted the man’s arm behind his back while you tried to sweep him off the floor. However, your attack failed as he kicked your face against the wall and Natasha was smashed up on the ceiling to crash against the floor. She was still conscious, but shaken when her vision blurred 

Like you were poor dolls between the hands of an overpowered man, you tried to get your heads straight and the impact of his simple hits was hurting you.

“Damn,” you grunted from the ground and Nat looked at you, anger firing inside her eyes.

You raised your head to the General and with blood spilling from your mouth that you spat out, you started to stand up accompanied by your best friend. With a pure fury, hatred, and pain flushed in your eyes, Natasha winded her arm back for a hit and as she landed her fist upon Ho Yin’s face, you raised your left leg and kicked him in the jaw. The forceful hit took him to his knees and then you both shoved your elbows on the base of his neck.

Like the effects of your attack had no incidence on him, the General chuckled and you stared at him horrified, the pain of his severe kick on your face still aching your whole body.

“I am The Destruction!” Chan Ho Yin yelled with a grin, standing up, “you can’t beat me!”

“Who?” Natasha breathed, taking a few steps back with you as he approached.

“Oh, crap, they gave him a name,” you rolled your eyes and clenched your hands into fists after you glanced at Nat, who gave you the signal of a new assault on the enhanced.

Went like clockwork, you both rushed to the man standing up. The anger that coursed through you both infused your arms with strength as you both shoved your hands forward into the soldier’s jaw, not without pain. You heard a small crack and you both kneeled to sweep his feet off the floor to let him collapse, only Ho Yin rolled over and kicked both your knees to make you fall hard and he pounced on Natasha to squeeze his hands tightly around her neck.

While your best friend was lying on the ground, she managed to give an electrical discharge to Chan Ho Yin with her Widow’s Bite and he released her from his deadly grip, gulping for air.

Taking the obvious chance, you pulled the trigger of your gun and shot three bullets straight to the military’s head, making the man collapse next to Natasha, who turned to him, eyes widened and stunned by your radical choice to save her.

 _‘Zephyr to ground team, what’s happening down there?’_ Phil asked as he heard the shots from your earpiece and Clint’s, who continued to fight the guards and protect the Minister.

"Chan Ho Yin is dead," you reported after you took the man’s inexistent pulse, lying dead on the cold ground in the basement and your best friend finally got on her knees only.

“We’re both fine… just a little shaken,” Natasha answered your inexistent question as she saw the worries filling your (e/c) eyes.

_'Find Essex, come back home… we don't want any evidence that S.H.I.E.L.D. was there.'_

"Roger that,” Natasha breathed. “We need to get out of here.” She tried to stand up with your help and you looked at her concerned as the purple marks around her neck made surface. “If the Invisible Man is here, he still can kill the Prime Minister.” She analyzed.

"I have a plan;” you snapped your fingers, idea hitting your mind, “I think I know how we can take out Essex.” You turned to the redhead, "I'll get Clint and the minister out of here. _We_ end this.” You removed your silver locker from your neck to place it in the palm of her hand.

"You can’t do this alone, you are injured!" Natasha affirmed firmly.

"Nat, you can barely walk! You leave to the Zephyr for medical attention with Rumlow and Rollins. Don’t you dare wait for us,” you ordered and pushed her into the hallway heading towards the south exit of the facility. “And don’t lose this necklace okay?"

“I promise.” Natasha knew how much this locker meant to you and your family.

 _‘Y/N, we need to find a way out of this facility. Essex’s men are at every exit, ready to kill us.’_ The archer warned and you put your gun inside your jeans’ belt.

"Hang on, Clint! Where are you?” You asked and stormed to the same stairs that led to the hall where was several knocked out militaries who were protecting Ho Yin, lying on the floor with Bing’s body riddled with bullet holes, his hand still gripping an AK47.

 _‘I’m in the south end, upper level,'_ Clint grunted while he was probably fighting some of the guards he mentioned. _‘The Prime Minister is still safe.’_

As soon as he indicated, you strode over to his position and once you arrived there, you spotted Clint, pushing the Chinese politician behind a pallet of construction while a new group of four of Essex’s bodyguards walked over in order to kill them.

Running to give Clint some help, you yanked the first soldier’s arm around, twisted his wrist and kicked the second in the neck, to jump over as you used the pallet to shove the first off you and his face hit the ground with a loud thud. Finally, you wrapped your legs around the second soldier’s neck and grabbed a mini blade inside your pocket to hit the man in his spine, and while he fell on his knees, you jumped off his shoulders, rolling on the ground to stand up straight to the archer, who finished fighting the two others.

“How'd you do that?" Clint breathed and ran to the Prime Minister still hiding, who was mumbling questions and threats about the attack against his person, all in Mandarin.

“My luck.” You followed them as they walked towards the end of the building, “you know the protocol-” you were stopped when the former councilman, Nathaniel Essex unexpectedly emerged in the middle of the corridor with a smirk and then disappeared again, leaving you blinking at the empty hallway.

“What was this?!” Clint yelled, looking around him and you mimicked still circling the Minister who was in a new state of panic. "Coulson, we found… and lost Essex.”

_'STRIKE Team came back, what about the politician?’_

“He's safe for now, but Liu Bing is dead after he tried to shoot at us.” The archer finished and you witnessed as the Prime Minister was smashed against a wall by an invisible force that left him out cold on the ground.

You immediately shut your eyelids and you thermal vision allowed you to see the attacker’s body heat and where he was exactly. You ran up to Essex and hit him in the stomach, still eyes closed, you stooped when he tried to elbow your face and he then turned to Clint.

"On your right!" You yelled and your teammate avoided his move as you pointed your gun in front of you and Clint mimicked the same direction and you both emptied your guns’ ammo on Essex’s chest, letting him scream in pain as the deadly wounds revealed his body.

“Y/N, I will get the Minister… get out of here!” Your partner in crime ordered after the dead man fell on the ground and the new soldiers hiding in another building of the plant stormed into the hallway. Yet, you knew at that moment, you couldn’t get away alive or free.

“No, not without you!” You shouted back and took your earpieces away to destroy them with a small flame inside the palm of your hand.

The patrol of dozens of Chinese militaries surrounded both of you and reached to the Prime Minister to get him out of the facility to safety as they weren’t involved in Essex’s failed coup.

“Wǒmen zhuā zhùle liǎng míng xíjí zhě shuí xiǎng shā bùzhǎng,” a soldier used his walkie-talkie and you instinctively both dropped your own weapons on the floor.

{We caught the two attackers who tried to kill the Minister.}

“No, we were here to-“

“Bì zuǐ!” The same military interrupted your partner in crime.

{Shut up!}

Willingly, you both glanced at each other with Clint while the soldiers still pointed their rifles to your heads and you surrendered yourselves as you got on your knees and your hands traveled to the back of your necks while your guns were next to the former councilman’s body.

In a blink of an eye, you couldn’t explain your fake story as S.H.I.E.L.D. protocol requested that one of the soldiers hit you both with his weapon on the head, causing you to fall down.


	27. The Shield - (Clint Barton x Reader) 6/7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Warnings** : Mentions of torture, (the word is literally written four times.) Nothing described!

_48 hours later - Interpol Black Site, Honk Kong, China_

“Incroyable!” The French Interpol inspector, Pierre Royale, chuckled. “How you are alive, sitting here is a miracle to me. You're lucky that your government intervened... that Interpol was brought in at all. For something as serious at this?” He came from the corner of the dark interrogation room and threw a red file on the table you were handcuffed to. {Unbelievable!} “Three highly decorated members of the Chinese government murdered in cold blood on Chinese soil by Americans. We even found the body of a former member of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s World Security Council!” He yelled and you kept looking in front of you, “in another time, we would have found you three feet below the ground... if we found you at all.” He paused to look at your emotionless face, “you must have something to say for yourself.”

"I'd like a cheeseburger, medium, with cheddar cheese, ketchup, mayo, lettuce and tomato,” you looked down at your green khaki prison uniform and turned your head to Inspector Royale, "and some curly fries. _Crispy_."

"Mrs. Everdeen, I'm your only ally here,” he whispered, trying the soft way to make you talk.

After you had been caught by the Chinese army in the facility, they put you in their jail where you received a special treatment to get any information about what had happened. You didn’t crack under torture. Fortunately for you, the US President, Ellis, brought Interpol in and the Chinese government had to hand you to them. After 24 hours in the soldiers’ jails with Clint, who also received the same treatment, you flew to Honk Kong where you had your own cells.

During these last hours, you stuck to your protocol: you told the same story Clint made up, a French-American couple of tourists lost on their way home. ‘The bigger a lie you tell, the more likely people will be to believe it’, they said. What seemed _very_ ridiculous would give time to Fury and President Ellis to get you out of here, if it could be possible.

"I have to say, I have never encountered someone like you," Royale confessed, resting against a wall and earned your best and beautiful fake smile as thanks. "Someone who has the ability to spout absolute nonsense with such ease."

"It's not nonsense,” you scoffed, “it's the truth. David and I were on holiday, and these-"

"In the woods of Inner Mongolia?" He interrupted with a stern look, "you were caught with a weapon, standing over a dead man!” He exclaimed and came closer to you, “who ordered the assassination?"

"Assassination? Are you joking?" Your eyes truly widened at the word and the French Inspector put his hands on the table.

"You broke into a top-secret Chinese facility."

"We were accosted in the woods by some ham-fisted drunken soldiers, who dragged us into this entire mess. All we did was try to get out of it. We're the real victims here, dude."

As he knew you wouldn’t tell anything more, Royale left the interrogation room a minute and came back with a lie detector, he connected the wires to your fingers and your right wrist while another Interpol agent checked your pulse with his computer beside your table.

"Okay,” the Inspector sat in front of you, “I'm going to ask you some very basic questions to establish a baseline." You nodded to tell him to go on and focused on your heartbeat like you learned at S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Academy. "State your full name for the record," Royale requested.

"Daenerys Slytherin Everdeen,” you grinned and the inspector couldn’t help a tiny smile. What he didn’t know was the agency had trained you to regular your lies under a detector.

"You are very young compared to Mr. Everdeen, how long have you been married to him?"

“When I was twenty-one, three years and a half from now. A perfect little wedding in Nice-"

"We have your records.” He interrupted and opened your red file, “something is weird; you can tell us you work for C.I.A."

"Yes, and Asgard does exist because Thor and I rule it,” you leaned over the table, not without great pain and breathed harshly, “I don’t even know what you’re talking about.”

"Why did you go to Inner Mongolia?" He stood up and walked to check the computer while you would answer, “how did you and Mr. Everdeen get into the country? There are no records of you flying into China. If you are tourists, where are you staying? What hotel?"

"We were on vacation; we came by boat and car. Finally, we stayed at a friend’s old house,” you responded and nothing wrong appeared on the screen, making the two inspectors chuckle in pure frustration. Even from Clint, they couldn’t get anything against you.

"Stall all you want. I will get answers," Royale pretended and removed his suit jacket.

“Isn’t what I’ve been doing for five hours, now?” You arched a brow, annoyed as nothing thrilling for you was about to come. Such interrogation got you easily bored you had to admit.

"We know you were lying about the soldiers in the woods... We have four bodies that someone must answer for. Multiple witnesses saw you standing next to Essex’s body."

“Your soldiers were _drunk_ ; they could’ve seen Santa Claus flying around, it would’ve been the same! They dragged us into this compound and tried to kill us,” you lied perfectly.

After endless hours with the lie detector, which revealed you weren’t lying to it when you clearly lied about three quarters of the story, defeated, but not giving up, Royale left the interrogation room for a long moment and came back with a small bottle of water.

"Water. Drink, please,” he offered and put it on the table, but you didn’t even touch the plastic. "We know you were not acting alone. And we do not mean your pigheaded husband-"

"Where is he?" You interrupted, concerned to know about Clint’s health. In the last twenty four hours you had no news on him and that started to take over your worried mind.

"There are many intelligence agencies around the world.” The French Inspector willingly avoided responding, “some are run by incompetents, but not all. We know S.H.I.E.L.D. had always been there, in the shadows. Admit that you're working with them or C.I.A., cooperating with the American government, and perhaps you can spare yourselves from a firing squad… This is your choice." He stated and let you think a moment before he opened the door when he realized you weren’t willing to cooperate with him or any of them.

“You know?” You spoke up and he turned around as you kept looking at the one-way mirror, “I had nothing to say under torture yesterday, because there’s nothing to say.”

Once again, the Inspector let you alone for another hour as he probably wanted to drive you mad and make you crack under psychological torture, but you didn’t give him a chance.

Your thoughts and internal ache were interrupted as Royale finally came back with Clint and when you saw him in that same state as yours, weak, but strong enough to stand; you smiled at each other like kids. You had never been so happy to see each other.

The men escorting him handcuffed Clint next to you on the table and they left you alone while, actually, these Interpol agents would watch you from the room next to yours.

"You alright, Frosty?" The archer smiled and took your hand to squeeze it as it was a sign that you were really here with him and still alive.

"Better now," you smiled back and looked into his tired eyes, "I thought they-"

"Yeah, I know me too. I don’t know what’s worse, the firing squad or that shadow moppet,” your best friend acknowledged and you both chuckled while you realized how low you looked because of the torture. Without these soldiers could realize, this made you even tougher and you swore to yourself to never say anything.

"We were lucky,” you whispered, “but you could have left, you know."

"No, I was lucky… Listen, Y/N, you’re like the younger sister I’ve never had-"

"You mean well, _well_ below Natasha,” you teased and he smiled, knowing the truth.

"What I mean is, I would never let you down," Clint looked at your hands, then at you and smirked as his humor came back. "I bet you could do with a cheeseburger right now, huh?"

"There’s no cheeseburger where we’re going,” you glanced at the one-way mirror and turned back to the archer, “if there’s a way out of this…  I can’t see it. Not where everyone wins."

"Maybe not everyone should,” he announced firmly and you knew exactly what he meant by those words. You knew he was right. You had to do this and continue to protect your work.

"Partners in crime?" You asked, tears threatening to spill like it had _never_ happened since your parents’ death almost twenty years prior.

"Partners in crime."

 ****Meanwhile, behind the one way-mirror****  
  


"I don't believe any of this,” the Chinese Prime Minister said, looking at the two of you behind the smoked glass, “these two are obviously working for either your government directly or indirectly… as agents of S.H.I.E.L.D."

President Ellis crossed his arms over his chest, “you know very well, Prime Minister, S.H.I.E.L.D. wasn’t involved in this execution." He lied like Fury had asked.

"Mr. President, do you think we are all naive? S.H.I.E.L.D. is there and well working with your government to get ahead of us,” the politician theorized and the US President frowned. "There is a new arms race in our future... the race for powered individuals. You know this."

"What I know, Huang Dong Yuan, is that there was an attempt on your life. A coup. And if I were you, I'd be grateful to the people who intervened," Ellis pointed at you as he spoke.

"Matthew, this incident will go public, and I will have to explain how not one, not two… but _three_ members of my government were murdered!”

“To be clear...,” Director Fury came in the room and cut in their conversation, “two of them were trying to kill you, sir."

“Colonel Nicholas Fury. Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” President Ellis introduced your boss to the Chinese Prime Minister, “he is there to prove you these two people aren't working for him. As you know, their work is to prevent threats."

"Threats like your very own Minister of Defense, General Chan Ho Yin, who was trying to assassinate you,” Fury crossed his arms and looked at a hostile Prime Minister.

"Mr. President,” the Chinese politician began, “if you do not wish to escalate hostilities between our nations, you will do what is right. Someone must pay for what happened there and it will not be me!” Yuan finished and the men watched as Fury left them to enter in your interrogation room after Royale gave him the green light while you discussed your new plan with Clint.

“Hello. My name’s Nick Fury,” the director came in and surprised you as you didn’t expect him to have a role in this interrogation, at least not an obvious one.

"Pleasure to meet you, sir," Clint played the character and you smiled.

"Like to ask you a few questions, if that's all right," Fury touched his smartwatch and it beeped lightly, "we have exactly 90 seconds to get your stupid asses out of here before they discover _I_ encrypted the microphones of the room. When Fitz triggers the EMP, you'll go out that door to your left. There are two guards-"

"Sir, we can't," you interrupted.

"Take them out,” Fury continued like he didn’t hear, “then head for the ship-"

"A distraction won't work here. We can't risk that." This time, Clint cut off the Director. "It'll expose all of you,” the archer finished.

"Once you're back, we'll change your identities, move your families and you'll be done in-"

"Sir, I think that we've proven we're not built for the lab or for office work… Or prison." You said and looked at your best friend who approved your words.

“What other options are there? Go on trial? Expose yourselves as members of a terrorist organization?” Fury scoffed, “because that's what this government thinks you are."

"We took an oath to be _the shield_.” Clint claimed, “to protect those in danger. Well, now S.H.I.E.L.D., this team is in the cross hairs.”

“The right thing for us to do is... take the bullet,” you finished in a very firm tone.

“Are you saying what I think you're saying?” Fury asked, shocked, “Barton, you have kids!"

"We've discussed it,” the archer glanced at you. “It's time. My children will understand why we did this." Your best friend smiled as Fury looked at you for a few seconds and by the determination in both of your eyes; he knew he couldn’t change your mind. Even if he tried.

"I'll have your things sent to you,” your former boss looked at you, shock clearly clouding his vision, “Stark; I’ll do my best for you to see your brother before an eventual execution."

"We are so sorry, sir,” you smiled and he shook his head for the last seconds before the door of the interrogation room opened and came inside: President Matthew Ellis and Prime Minister Huang Dong Yuan accompanied by Inspector Royale, still willing to make you talk.

"It's all yours, Inspector," Fury turned to the French Interpol agent.

"Merci,” he thanked and came closer to your table. "So, you do not work for S.H.I.E.L.D.?"

"We do not," Clint and you said at the same time, “we didn’t know it existed.”

"And you're telling me they don't work for any U.S. government agency."

"No,” Fury claimed, looking at you both. “They do not."

“Satisfied, Huang?" President Ellis asked and turned to his Chinese counterpart.

"One last thing!” Fury interrupted, “I would like to talk about your bravery. Whether anyone will ever admit it or not, you saved the Prime Minister's life and doubly fortunate for him, managed to wipe out his entire opposition. They're all dead now, so _he_ can thank you."

"Nick," Ellis interjected.

"Wouldn't you agree, Prime Minister? Wouldn’t you agree you are still alive thanks to these people?" Fury looked at the Chinese politician, who nodded as he couldn’t agree more. “Seems to me they're free to go,” the Director finished and Huang glanced at the two of you before he murmured something and left, leaving you startled while staring at Fury as you had no idea how to react to this bold suggestion.

“So…?” Clint asked, turning to you.


	28. The Shield - (Clint Barton x Reader) 7/7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Light mention of torture, nothing described.

   _Interpol Black Site, Honk Kong, China_

After Fury had continued to plead your case to the Chinese Prime Minister outside your interrogation room where the Interpol agents kept you in, Clint and you wondered why it took so much time to take a simple decision about your cases, and you were still confused by the events that were about to happen. These men left you in the dark and didn’t tell you about a trial or a possible liberation as your former boss suggested.

“Come on, bring them back to their cells until I tell you to move them,” Inspector Royale came back in the room to give an order to his two agents.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Clint asked for the both of you while the Interpol men removed your handcuffs from the small table.

“You are free,” Royale announced, bitterness in his tone. “The Prime Minister dropped all charges against you.” He finished and you looked at the archer revealed, but also worried.

“We walk free, but spying is over for us,” Clint whispered discretely in your ear as the agents escorted you back through the white and gray building hallways.

“Which means the Chinese government cleared S.H.I.E.L.D. of suspicions,” you finished in a murmur with a proud smile as you had probably saved your agency and the country from political hostilities or a war.

With that, the Interpol agents brought you back to your cells, and there, you waited another hour for Inspector Royale to set you free and you begun to wonder what you would do since you were forced to quit your job and your only brother to protect the ones you loved.

Your worried thoughts found themselves interrupted as the French Inspector gave you back all your casual clothes and you finally walked ‘free’ from your jail with Clint at your sides. Royale told you the U.S. President’s personal jet was ready to fly back to Washington, D.C. with you, and when you reached the great hall of the Interpol building, they removed your handcuffs. After you had rubbed your sore wrists, you sat on a bench, waiting for President Ellis to come back from the meeting room where he hosted an emergency meeting with Fury, fixing the last details of your liberation.

"This will be our own Budapest," you laughed slowly as the aching wounds were still present and Clint scoffed, raising a brow. "What?" You questioned.

"Okay, Budapest was maybe... no, it wasn't as tough as that, and it was funnier."

"So, tell me what happened exactly in Hungary?" You interrogated, this question became really annoying to the archer and Natasha since they were always showing off, but they weren’t willing to share what had happened there.

"That's classified, (Y/SH/N)," Clint winked and your brows furrowed.

"What?" You breathed, "I’m pretending to be your wife and this for more than forty eight hours, I think I have the right to know everything now."

"Ask Fury."

"We are not S.H.I.E.L.D. agents anymore,” you finally said to yourselves the painful truth and your partner in crime smiled sadly as he turned his head to you.

You mimicked the curve on his lips and you looked at the front doors of the building from where Phil dressed casually appeared and walked to your direction. When you saw him walking towards the bench, you couldn’t help the sigh to finally see him after everything that had happened in Essex’s facility.

“Hi, I pretend to be your father,” Coulson explained his presence, referring to Inspector Royale’s suspicions as you stood up from the bench and he hugged you a long moment, only you bit back a wince when his embrace pressured on your covered wounds.

“Hey,” you smiled shakily and noticed how your mentor was shaken by the news.

“What did they do to you?” Phil asked when he saw how weak you and Clint looked.

“They used some of their tricks on us,” you announced and looked down a few seconds as the anger spread over the level 9 agent.

“Why didn’t you leave like Fury said?” He asked your best friend.

“We made a choice, Coulson. As hard as it seems, it was better this way,” Clint reasoned.

“Because of this, we won’t be able to see each other for a long time,” Phil sighed and turned to you, “you know that?”

“I do. Their agents will follow us everywhere and for a while,” you turned your head away for a second, when you felt some tears in your eyes as Coulson was internally crushed to see you like this. You didn’t want to hurt the only person that believed in you from the start, but there was no way out of this tough situation that didn’t involve this sadness or even regrets.

“Barton, we’ll make sure they don’t follow you to your real house.” Coulson promised and Clint thanked him, grateful for S.H.I.E.L.D.’s protection despite the problems it surely involved.

“Phil, can you call Tony and explain everything? He will understand.” You asked and he took you in his arms one last time, saying he was sorry about everything that happened and how he felt guilty to have put you into this mess, but you said it was your job. Your job above all.

“Y/N, my best recruit,” Phil whispered before he patted Clint’s shoulder and you both watched with a smile as two Interpol guards escorted your mentor outside the building, leaving you like two victims of your own work.

Eventually, you sat down and looked at Clint, who was as exhausted as you. These past two days had drained your strength, however fortunately for you; S.H.I.E.L.D. had trained you to push the pain away. You couldn’t stand, you bravely did it, but you couldn’t take it anymore.

“We made the right choice. They’re still here and they will protect us.” Clint reassured, and you put your head on his shoulder, closing your eyes.

“They owe us, those bastards,” you quipped and laughed with him as you waited for your flight to finally go back to the country you had grown to miss.

 

*****Coulson’s P.O.V.*****

Defeated, I dragged my feet back to the Helicarrier’s deck meeting area, and when I erased all the concerns from my face, I came in and saw STRIKE Team waiting for you, but you weren’t behind me. I was alone to announce terrible news.

"What happened to the extraction plan?” Romanoff asked me when she stood from her seat, “you never gave us the signal."

"Where are Barton and Stark? And Fury?" Rollins asked at the same time and I sighed as I looked down a second.

“They're not coming back. They've been disavowed," I answered to Natasha’s question then turned to Rollins, “Fury is fixing the details of their liberation with our President.”

"What do you mean ‘they’re not coming back’?" Rumlow interrogated me like he wasn’t concerned at all, but more confused and he turned to Romanoff who immediately understood the meaning of this sentence.

"There were no good options. We had to make a deal," I responded, “we were lucky President Ellis even got Interpol to step in. They walk free, but they cannot be agents."

"So, that's it? We're just leaving them?!" Natasha threw her arms in the air, guilt clearly speaking. She had been the first to make up a plan to extract you, she said she owed Barton.

“But you are Stark’s-“

“I know I was supposed to be the person who could convince her or Clint to punch their way out of this,” I cut off Rollins. “But she’s stubborn, and you know when she has something in mind, nothing can stop her. Even her family.”

“We can’t give up on them,” Romanoff collapsed on her chair, feeling weak to not do anything more and she looked at me, determination twinkling in her green eyes.

"It was all we could do to keep them from being executed. Relations between the President and Prime Minister are already badly strained because of the ‘growing enhance threat’. And if they found out S.H.I.E.L.D. was training enhances like Y/N as agents… it would be bad. As bad as Cold War bad," I finished and paused a few seconds as the team sat down, "Y/N and Clint never cracked under questioning, even to save each other. They did that for S.H.I.E.L.D. They did that for us, and they paid the price."

"No, they-“ Romanoff rose up and walked in circles, "they just can't take the fall. We are a team. We can't let them go, they don't deserve it!"

"Natasha, it was their choice. After everything they've done, they deserve that choice. Believe me, guys... you know _damn well_ I'm gonna miss them too." I said bitterly and sat on my chair, waiting for Fury to walk in while a stressing silence took control of the crowded ship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TO BE CONTINUED!
> 
> Don't worry, your story doesn't stop here at all.  
> Hope you're enjoying this series anyways.
> 
> Your author,  
> Salma xx


	29. Memories II - (Peggy Carter x Reader)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Raiting: T  
> Summary: Since her last mission with Clint Reader is being followed by some Interpol agents and she visits Peggy more often to hide from them. She tries to move on by listening to her old friend's stories.  
> Words Count: 1.5k  
> Warnings: Some important Agent Carter season two spoilers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It comes back!!! I hope this break wasn't too long.

    _July 2010 - Family & Nursing Care Inc., Washington, D.C._

The noise of your heels on the cement pavement slammed at fairly normal speed as you gradually approached the spot where you would finally be alone. Alone, but for how long? That you couldn’t know. The two women who followed you were not ready to let you go so easily. In any case, these ‘spies’ didn’t know about your undefeated and stubborn personality.

When you walked into the interesting building, the women finally stopped and you headed to the reception of the clinic where you could be safe until the end of your visit to Peggy.

“How is Mrs. Carter doing?” You asked the chief physician of the clinic; Peggy had been diagnosed with Alzheimer the year prior and she was in the early stages of the disease. That meant only her immediate memory was lightly affected, yet you always made sure to have some news before seeing her.

“She’s having a good day today, Ms. Stark,” the doctor answered and checked the old lady’s personal file. “Very lucid, telling war stories.”

“Did you know she dated Captain America during the war?” A new nurse who looked as young as you asked and you faked to be very surprised.

“Yeah, pretty good, isn’t it?” You acted the shock very well and with that, the doctors left to their own business as you headed towards the same hallway you could describe eyes closed. You turned to a corner and saw Agent 13 from S.H.I.E.L.D. walking in your direction.

“Oh, hey Sharon,” you smiled and waved at her while you joined the spy.

“Y/N, good to see you,” she smiled back.

“What are you doing here?”

“Just visiting my family, what about you?”

“Pretty much the same, visiting an old friend… who happens to be your great aunt,” you put your hands on your purse and Sharon parted her lips to say something, but nothing came out. However, as the well trained agent she was, she put on a smile on her face and got back in.

“How did you find out?”

“The eyes, you have Peggy’s eyes and she talks about her blonde niece all the time,” you chuckled, but you sensed her embarrassment. “Don’t worry; I’m the only one who knows.”

“If we can keep it for ourselves,” she whispered and you nodded your head. “Nobody knows at S.H.I.E.L.D. and I always made sure to keep it this way.”

“Oh, yeah of course, I exactly know how it feels to have a very big legacy and a famous name. It’s a lot to live up to.”

“Yeah,” Sharon laughed, “see you around?”

“Mostly here since I’m not a spy anymore,” you reminded and glanced around you.

“Sorry about that, the agency is still shaken by the news,” Peggy’s niece smiled sadly.

“That’s okay,” you shrugged it off and walked backwards. “Say hello to them for me.”

Since what had happened in China, more than a month prior, S.H.I.E.L.D. had sent you back your stuff in your apartment and you had no contacts with any of them, not even with your only brother. All of this, because some agents of Interpol and the Chinese intelligence agency followed your every move the moment you got back to the U.S. They were always tracking you, watching you, and you spotted them from the second you moved into the new apartment you had to share with Clint.

They weren’t discreet for spies, not at all and you and your best friend were not going to do them the pleasure of committing a rookie mistake by contacting your families in any ways. It was the deal you had made to be ‘free’ and alive.

“A third visit in five days? S.H.I.E.L.D. must be far from troubles for the first time since its creation,” Peggy smiled after you had greeted one another, sitting next to her bed.

“You don’t remember, do you?” You asked, but she seemed to not understand, “I took a long break to visit my favorite friend, but honestly, I’d give everything to go back in the field.” You had announced her about your forced retirement, but she had forgotten because of the disease. Rather than telling the same story, you opted for hiding and lying to protect her.

During your childhood, Peggy had taken some time with you when your brother was too busy working as CEO of Stark Industries, and you always felt grateful to have such friend in your life. She represented the missing link between you and your parents.

“Oh, Tony came here the other day and tried to search for you,” the former spy announced.

“How is he?” You asked, excited to have some news about your brother.

“He is fine and seemed worried about you… He looks great with Pepper,” she gave her blessing and you smiled. “That was his first visit in two years.”

“Too busy being Iron Man, working on his new energy clean project with the Stark Tower.” You took Peggy’s hand as she nodded her head, “I’ve just met Sharon, by the way.”

“She’s nice, isn’t she?”

“We had a couple of missions together, and she’s a great agent.” You smiled and looked at the photos on her nightstand, “it’s crazy how Daniel and you always had time for your children back then,” you almost wished you could’ve had this ‘normal’ way of life with Howard, Maria and Tony.

“It wasn’t the same century. Family was more important I guess,” Peggy said, also glancing at the images, and you agreed.

“At least, it still is to me.”

“What about you, don’t you want children?”

“Me, having _my own_ family?” You laughed and shook your head, “I don’t think that’s for me, I mean I’ve always thought with S.H.I.E.L.D. I had no time for such things… and I have to find the right man first.”

“Search for him,” she winked. “You know there is this cute young man who comes here to visit my friend Betty and if you could see his green eyes. You could eat him with a spoon!”

“Peggy!” You faked and burst into laughter. “Kidding, I saw him and yeah, he’s quite something. Very handsome and very married.”

“Oh, maybe another one.” She looked up and snapped her fingers, “your colleague. Um, what’s his name already? Agent Triplett.”

“He’s great, yeah,” you admitted and shook your head, “Peg, I’m not looking for someone right now. I’m good the way I am.”

“Sure, but what if one day you find the right partner?”

“Then I don’t know… I’m an orphan since I’m six, I don’t have many memories of my parents. Dad wasn’t champion in giving his love for his kids when he spent all his time at work unlike mom, but I don’t really know what the mother instinct is.”

“Howard loved you both. He always did.”

“I know, actually we are very much the same workaholic type. I can’t do anything outside spying for S.H.I.E.L.D., I’ve done this since high school.” Once again, you glanced at the photos and spotted the one of Michael before he died in 1940, he was Peggy’s brother. “It’s the same for you, what if you had married Wells and lived a boring life with him? Michael had been right about it, you’ve always wanted a life of adventure.”

“My brother told me I was born to be a fighter,” she smiled as the happy memories came back to her. “It was his death that inspired me to join the British army as a field agent… and if I had married Fred then my life would have been drastically different.”

“You wouldn’t have had met Howard and Maria,” you smiled softly.

“Among others. But if I were Fred’s wife it would’ve meant Michael was alive.”

“I’m sorry,” you looked down and you understood how much your own brother meant to you.

“So, will you tell me what the real matter is?” Peggy questioned when she noticed how low you felt since you had left your job. You weren’t happy without Tony, Phil or Natasha; you wanted to see them again.

“I don’t want to bother you with this Peg,” you smiled and she furrowed her eyebrows.

“Always worrying about everyone around you while you forget yourself,” the old lady analyzed and you shrugged. “I’ll tell you something Michael once told me: ‘don't worry what other people think. You are meant to fight. Stop pretending to be someone that you're not.’"

“I’m not pretending to be someone else, I’m having a bad time and I need to fix the situation with Barton. Don’t you worry about me, I’m perfectly fine.” You reassured, lied again and she eventually quit the topic as you weren’t willing to share the trauma of the Hohhot mission.

As time went on its way, you continued to exchange and discuss the many memories that Peggy had when she was working for the S.S.R. with Chief Dooley or Chief Thompson, and also how she first met Edwin Jarvis: your family's former butler you missed very much. As a woman, it was very hard for Peggy to be accepted in this old-fashioned and misogynist world, but she proved herself because she knew her value, just like you.

“I feel like we are spending out best time together,” you chuckled and stared at her. “Out of all your achievements, which one are you most proud of?” You asked and Peggy patted your hand, smiling.

“Dear, I’m afraid that’s classified.”


	30. Most Wanted - (Clint Barton x Reader)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rating: T  
> Summary: Clint and Reader try to continue their lives without S.H.I.E.L.D. until... (sorry, I suck at this!)  
> Words Count: 1.3k  
> Warnings: *Steve's voice* Language!

_ _

 

_August 2010 - Washington, D.C._

A hood over your head, looking at your right and your left you stepped in a black car parked in an alleyway at night where you had to meet Clint. Since the Hohhot dramatic events, you both shared a small apartment in town as you couldn’t get back to your real identities yet. At least not until some intelligence agencies would eventually leave you alone.

“So, will you tell me why you’re hiding in a car like you’re some kind of thief? You didn’t say anything on the phone,” you asked, but your best friend who also wore a hood ignored and looked at the window in front of him. “Do you have any idea how hard it was to outdistance those guys?”

“I know and that’s why I told you to come here,” Clint smiled as greet, glancing at you.

“You leave the apartment for three days, and you come back to ask me to meet in a car,” you put your feet on the dash and he groaned.

“Right,” the archer finally looked at you, “I’ve noticed the Interpol agents leave us alone for twenty minutes only at ten, and it’s the time I need to get us to a nice coffee shop.”

“A coffee at this hour of the night?”

“We’ve live together for two months, Y/N. Don’t tell me you’re the kind who sleeps early.”

“I’m not,” you chuckled and looked around you. “Weird thing is this situation reminds me of-“

“The moment when your brother sneaked out of the trunk to catch you and your first boyfriend trying to flee from the mansion. I know, you’ve already told me this story last week.”

“Spent too much time with you, Birdy,” you winked and he laughed. “We’ve been stuck together since those assassinations, and I didn’t even get to see Tony while you had the chance to see your family.”

“It wasn’t for long, but it felt _so_ good to see the kids with Laura,” he confessed and turned to look out at the people passing by the street. “What about you?”

“Nothing. I know Phil called Tony, but that’s all…” you glanced at Clint, almost jealous to know he had the opportunity to reunite with his family, but this feeling was quickly wiped away as he pulled out a cigarette from his pocket.

“Hey!” Clint exclaimed as you took the small cylinder from his mouth and you threw it outside the car window.

“You smell bad enough,” you quipped, but your tone was stern.

“And you used to be fun!”

“Yeah, once upon a time,” you muttered, looking in front of you.

“I miss them too,” Clint smiled, referring to S.H.I.E.L.D. and sank deeper in his seat.

“Not as much as my vegetarian sandwich,” you responded, sadness in your tone. “It looked _so_ delicious… with a hint of pesto aioli, but then Natasha threw it away. A dagger stabbed my heart back there, it really hurts. South Ossetia has a bitter taste for me.”

“W- What?”

“It’s classified, Hawkeye,” you mimicked his tone back inside Interpol headquarters. “Hold on, we’ve got movement,” you pointed at the two Interpol agents walking down the street in front of your apartment and they both left to their own business like Clint had noticed.

“Finally,” he rubbed his hands together and placed his feet on the pedals to start the car.

In a matter of minutes, you both got to Starbucks, the only coffee shop opened at this hour of the night and you quickly ordered your drinks while you glanced discretely at the people around, trying to find any spies inside the room.

“Here,” Clint smiled and you sat at a table in a corner of the room. “You know they are still following us?” He handed you your cup and looked at the people around to see a new Interpol agent stepping inside the shop to ‘order’ something.

“All this hiding for nothing,” you sipped from your coffee and let the silence takk control of you while you wondered how this critical situation could end. “What will we do now?” You asked, unsure about the future, “I’ve had no real ‘vacations’ since I signed, Clint. Retiring isn’t my thing at all.”

“But this is our only option,” Clint remarked and rubbed his chin.

“We could get back to our normal identities if they leave us alone soon enough,” you said, turning around to the spy sitting by the counter, casually drinking his own coffee.

“Once it’s over I’ll probably work on my farm and your cover in Stark Industries is still on as an engineer,” your partner in crime drank from his cup. “There will be a long time before anybody from the intelligence business trust us.”

“I’m afraid they will never,” you disagreed with a small smile, “and we even haven’t had the right to our spy’s goodbye.”

“Maybe because there will be no goodbye!” Nick Fury… your former boss claimed and sat next to Clint, in front of you.

“Nick?” You coughed, surprised to see him here and taking risks to meet you.

“Come on, kids. Leave your hoods, you are free.”

“Not exactly,” the archer notified and raised an eyebrow.

“What are you doing here?” You asked Fury.

“What are _you_ doing here? You have some work to do.”

“What did they pour into our cups?” Clint turned his head to you, “is he real or…?”

“I am very real, Barton. I’m the realest person you’re ever gonna meet.”

“Just my luck.” Clint chuckled and regained his professional composure, “seriously, sir. What do you want from us?”

“What do _I_ want from _you_?” Fury shook his head, “nah nah. What do _you_ want from _me_?”

“Okay, I hate when you’re all sassy!” You exclaimed, “just spit it out.”

“You have become a problem, a problem I have to deal with.” The Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. pointed at himself, “I had bigger problems than you in the southwest region two months ago, but you’ve killed politicians.”

"With respect sir, we did this to protect everyone. We don't regret any of our actions."

"Not any of those dark things we did since we signed,” you put a conclusion in Clint's words.

"You've been reckless," Fury argued.

"And?" Clint questioned.

“And you did it damn well. You protected the Chinese Prime Minister and S.H.I.E.L.D,” he added and took his time to look at Clint and you. “We owe you.”

“Okay… _I_ think I’m drunk,” it was your turn to be very confused, “am I?”

“You’re not,” your former boss affirmed. “What I’m saying is you’re back with us.”

“What do you mean?” Clint coughed and almost spat out his coffee, mimicking your action.

“I dealt with tougher than the Chinese Prime Minister… Stark, your family is one of the most powerful in this world, so your brother helped a lot too.” Fury paused, enjoying the surprise in your faces and finally ended the suspense. “After endless days of negotiations, we have you back on board on two conditions.”

“Tell us,” you commanded, hopeful it was the truth and prayed you weren’t dreaming.

“You’re declared personæs non  _gratæ_ in China for your whole lives,” Fury announced.

“We didn’t plan to go back there anyways,” Clint mumbled, but you could hear him. “What’s the second condition?”

“Just paperwork for several months.” The Director looked around him and lowered his voice, “I have to make sure no more intelligence agencies are at your asses.”

“Really?” You almost shouted with joy and grinned like an idiot.

“Really. That makes us even, now.”

“Sir,” you tried to contain your feelings and be professional, “um- We’ll make sure you will never ever regret this decision.”

“I already do,” Fury stood up and stopped when he was about to leave you, “Stark, I realized from your nine years with us, you are way better when you don’t follow orders… Next time, don’t follow them.”

“I will, sir,” you smiled widely and turned to your best friend who was also grinning.

“One last thing,” the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. came back with your silver locker in hand, “Agent Romanoff kept this necklace for you,” he handed the jewel to you and finally left.

“S.H.I.E.L.D., beware! The assassins are back!” Clint laughed and gave you a high five after you had locked the necklace around your neck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi,
> 
> I'm not gonna lie... this wasn't going to happen so soon in the fic, but I really wasn't inspired because I wanted two more chapters without S.H.I.E.L.D., but I had nothing in mind, so I'm sorry if this went too quikly for your liking. Because vigilante Reader and Hawkeye sounded great...
> 
> Btw, I'm not even sorry for the pic I used because dayum!!! *biggest heart eyes ever.* I was thinking about adding pics to every chapter, what do you think?  
> The title is a kind of tribute to Bobbi and Hunter from AoS... for those who are watching the show. And yesterday's episode was wow!!


	31. Prank War - (Tony Stark x Sister!Reader)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rating: T  
> Summary: Reader takes a break from all the moutains of paperwork at work and pays a funny visit to her brother.  
> Words Count: 2k  
> Warnings: Swearing... like two swears I think.  
> Author's Note: Taking a break from all the missions and drama around S.H.I.E.L.D. is all we need, right now.

 

   _December 2010 - Stark Mansion, Malibu, CA_

Sitting at a desk in your brother’s workshop, you scratched your head filled with calculations about algorithms and plans already perfected in your mind while your hands worked on the wires composing the under armor of the suit you wanted to create. A suit inspired from Tony’s famous Mark IV.

What, it was your right to have one after everything that happened to you.

“Move out, Y/N,” Tony tried to push you out of his chair, but you used all your strength to stay glued on the seat and after another try, your brother eventually gave up.

“I was there before you,” you protested and kept working on your armor prototype.

“I was working on Mark V first,” he retorted.

“I’m working on my Iron Woman suit. Chivalry first?” You lowered your screw and smirked up at him, “sorry, this isn’t in your vocabulary. I forgot.”

“I already regret putting you out of these Chinese jails,” he quipped and began to play with a pencil between his fingers. “When will you go back in the field?”

“First of all, you helped Fury to do it. Don’t give yourself all the credit, but-”

“Credit for saving your life from the firing squad?” Tony shook his head whilst snorting.

“An argument can be made for 30% if that comforts your ego,” you grinned and continued your stuff, giving up his gaze.

“What the hell, Y/N/N?” The billionaire laughed, “you spent too much time with me lately.”

“Side effect of being raised by Tony Stark,” you kicked a brow and he huffed. “Anyway, I’m not properly suspended; I just do the paperwork until my cover is fully back on.”

“I’ll call Fury because you’re evading my personal space when you’re in break!”

“What?” You scoffed, “since I work for S.H.I.E.L.D., I just took six breaks. Six. All to visit you or Peggy. Being with you isn’t the definition of proper vacation, bro.”

“What should I say about you then?” He retaliated, lifting his hands up. “Since I’m with Pepper, you always ruin our romantic dates. You’re fangirling over us.”

“I did it _one time_ because I was just bored. She’s also my friend.”

“She’s _my_ Pepper.” Your brother looked down at your current work on the suit you were designing and changed the topic as your words piqued his curiosity. “Why were you talking about an ‘Iron Woman’ armor?”

“Because I want one, but I need your help. I can’t do it without you.”

“Nope.”

“There’s just Iron Man then?”

“Yep,” he grinned, and you rolled your eyes.

“But I can see the newspaper titles from here. ‘Iron Man and Iron Woman: the siblings vigilante’.” You threw your arms in the air, creating an imaginary banner, “since I can’t be (Y/SH/N) in public.”

“(Y/SH/N)? Really?!” Tony rested against the desk, laughing out loud as the tears of mirth formed in the corner of his brown eyes, “I- Iron Man… doesn’t- doesn’t have a sidekick.” He wiped off the drops from his face and eventually calmed down as you sent him a glare.

“What about War Machine?” You interrogated, raising an eyebrow.

“What about a prank war?” He ignored your comment as a new grin decorated his face.

You shrugged and thought for a moment. “Okay, it’s been a while since the last at the Triskelion.”

“What happened?”

“Switzerland almost declared war against the country because Phil and I got Fury involved.”

Tony looked at you with wide eyes, “Switzerland is supposed to be the land of peace.”

“I know right?”

****

As you came back from Randy’s Donuts, you rushed to your room with a mayo jar and a box in your hands. You sat on the floor and opened the box of donuts to fill all them up with the sauce and you made sure nothing was obvious. When everything seemed perfect to your eyes, you came back in the kitchen to replace your box of Tony’s favorite (fake) donuts with the one inside the fridge and you finally threw the evidences of your first prank.

“Hey,” your brother greeted and opened the fridge to grab a bottle of water.

“Hey, what’s up?” You smiled lazily as you sat next to the kitchen counter.

“Nothing since this morning,” Tony shook his head, but before he approached the bottle to his mouth, he glanced around him and inside the plastic with a very suspicious look.

“Will you drink or…?” You asked seriously and held a giggle.

“What did you pour inside?” He queried, putting his hands on his hips.

“Nothing, I swear,” you told the exact truth about the water and Tony looked at you one more second, trying to analyze your face. As he finally concluded there was nothing about lies in your features, he drank from the bottle.

Tourist, you thought. Your job was to lie, it was a second nature.

“I poured some rat poison inside,” you informed him as cool as you could ever be and the billionaire immediately spat out the water on the ground as he rushed to wash his mouth with the hand soap and you tapped your hands on the counter whilst laughing at his reaction.

“What the...?” He turned to you and grabbed the dish towel to dry his tongue.

“I was joking, Tony. I promise you, there was nothing inside. Here.” You poured the water from his bottle in a glass and drank it. You chuckled as he sighed in relief and relaxed.

“I need a donut,” your brother commented, walking to the fridge and he opened the box of your special donuts. “My favorites,” he whispered and took a generous bite… only to storm to the trash and he threw up everything. The face he made was unbelievably funny and this time you couldn’t help but roll on the ground in pure laughter!

“Oh, Tony! Ne-never trust a spy!”

****

Standing on your tiptoes and slowly walking in the living room to take the stairs to your bedroom, you sneaked inside the hallway as you came back from a restaurant and nightclub in town where you met your high school friends and caught up the missed time.

With your Christian Louboutin high heels in your hand, you opened the door of your bedroom and didn’t bother to turn on the light, too exhausted. As this evening and night went on, you completely forgot about the prank war and unfortunately, you took the bait.

You were about to take off your dress to take a shower and sleep, when your feet touched the ground and every mouse traps around you set off!

“Crap!” You wheezed, shrieked with pain as you desperately tried to escape them. You bounced on each foot, but they were smartly placed everywhere inside your bedroom.

“Tony?!” You called and another trap snapped down on your toe, “ANTHONY!”

A flashlight coming from the corner of your room blinded your eyes and all you could recognize from the person holding it was his ridiculously cute laugh. Tony waited the whole evening and a part of the night to get revenge and… he enjoyed every bit of it.

“BOOM!” He yelled, laughing when you tried to attack him, but mousetraps trapped your tiptoes and made you squeak. “Oh, gosh…This- this one is best… it was worth the wait!”

“This isn’t over!” You warned in pain and jumped on your bed to rub your feet.

*****************************************

   _The next day - Stark Mansion, Malibu, CA_

That morning, you woke up earlier than Tony and went outside the mansion to the water supply behind another garage of the estate. Taking advantage of your powers, you froze the system as well as the lines.

Tony would have the coldest shower of his entire life, you thought and not without pain because of the traps, you quickly rushed back inside the mansion and stood behind the billionaire’s master bedroom door.

“J.A.R.V.I.S., tell me when my brother wakes up,” you commanded.

“He is currently waking up, Miss.” The AI informed in a whisper, “would you want me to-“

“No.” You whisper-shouted, “you noticed we are in the middle of another war.” You remarked and opened the door of the bedroom to stay behind his locked bathroom’s one, waiting to hear the effect of your prank.

“Y/N!!!” A very, very girly scream escaped Tony’s mouth when he felt the cold water on his skin and he cursed multiple times, complaining it wasn’t fair to use your own abilities.

“I told you so! This is for the mousetraps!” You laughed and rested against the wall.

“How do I take a shower now?! I have a breakfast date!” He yelled and you left his bedroom.

****

Wanting more than just a frozen shower, you came in the kitchen, in the evening and took a bottle of whipped cream from the fridge to go back to the living room.

There he was. Tony. Lying on the sofa with a book over his head as he took a nap after he’d came back from the workshop where he’d worked with you for a great part of the day. As he needed a break, he got here before an eventual new prank against you. A funnier, he planned.

Standing on your tiptoes, you approached him and took the bottle from the back pocket of your jeans to pour a big amount on his free hands.

You bent down and snapped your fingers to wake him up, yet his hands went on your face before you could finish and you gasped as you removed the cream from your skin, surprised that the prank finally turned against yourself. You didn’t take seriously the mischievousness in his eyes when he said he would take a nap. J.A.R.V.I.S. must’ve had helped your brother.

“Pranked!” The billionaire jumped off the couch and tried to find a hiding as you ran after him in the room, wanting to get your revenge.

However, Tony didn’t expect what he saw next. You jumped from your mom’s old favorite piano and landed with your knees on his shoulders to make him fall on the ground. You rolled up to him whilst you emptied the entire bottle of whipped cream on his face and his hair.

“Gross!” He wiped out the cream from his face and put it on your hair.

You rolled over and laughed like kids with cream all over your heads, and you continued to fight playfully, reminding you of the old days.

Your laughs were stopped by your phone ringtone on the sofa and Tony glanced at you with his famous smirk, before he rushed to the couch with you closely, following him. When he was about to take it, you jumped on his back and both landed… or collapsed on the sofa.

“Agent Stark,” you picked up your phone and Tony rolled from the couch to fall on the ground.

  _Y/N, this is Phil,’_ you could sense that your mentor was smiling as he spoke.

“Hey, how are you?” In a reflex you tried to clean you up and stood, like he was here.

_‘Another prank war…?’_

“Yes,” you laughed and turned to Tony, who was ‘dying’ on the floor.

 _‘I called you-‘_ Coulson was interrupted when your brother stole the phone from your hands.

“You really should send her in the field because she’s-“ It was his turn to be interrupted as you took back the device and held his hands firmly.

“Sorry, you already know Tony.”

_‘Unfortunately… I’m kidding. I was just gonna ask if you could have dinner with me and Audrey. We’ll be in Malibu tomorrow.’_

“Okay. I let you choose everything, then,” you smiled and Tony faked to throw up.

 _‘Right. See you tomorrow. And don’t do anything stupid, okay?’_ You responded affirmatively to Phil’s request and said goodbye before you hung up and turned to the bored billionaire.

“Ready for round three?” You inquired and released him from your grip.

“I thought you’d never ask, (Y/SH/N).” He chuckled and rubbed his hands together… in pain.

“Like the old days.”

“When I was young and beautiful.”


	32. Undercover - (Clint Barton x Reader)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rating: Teens and Up  
> Summary: Reader gets back in the field with Clint, but she seems still shaken by what happened during her last mission with her teammate, months ago.  
> Words Count: 2.7k  
> Warnings: Light mention of torture, violence and Clint being a good bro.  
> Author's Note: Chapter inspired by AoS 3x06.  
> Quick note on the character mentionned: Ian Quinn is an American-born scientist, an industrialist, and the owner of Quinn Worldwide. http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/marveldatabase/images/b/bb/Ian_Quinn_(Earth-199999)_001.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20131009112826

German translation updated thanks to AndrastesMercy

    _April 2011 - Quinjet, somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean_

“Clint, I have something interesting,” you informed as you looked at your tab, sitting at the back of the jet and your best friend left the pilot seat to stand next to you.

Hill had sent you to go after a group of men who attacked a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility and you checked as the latest details of your mission had been sent to you. These mercenaries were there to hire some scientists and engineers to work on a top secret project called ‘Gravitonium’, unknown to your agency. It was a prototype, but the scientist leading the experience needed some of the best to make it real. You had all this information from the last survivor of the attack.

"Dr Anderson didn't get the details exactly right,” you looked at your screen that showed several fake IDs for the same man. “He said they were five men on the scene, but only four bodies were recovered. All mercenaries. The fifth guy was one of Anderson's former colleagues." You gave Clint the tab after you tapped on the real file you needed, "that's his ID. But that's an alias; he's not Carl Delfino, but… Ian Quinn."

"Wait, Ian Quinn, as in Quinn Worldwide?” He questioned and you nodded your head, “the guy you kissed with your poisoned lipstick three years ago?"

" _He_ kissed me,” you rolled your eyes as the archer ignored with a smirk. “I think it's time for us to pay Quinn another visit."

"You got something?"

"S.H.I.E.L.D. has been monitoring several his bank accounts for a while now." You touched the screen to open a new file, "one just woke up in Cayman Islands."

"Quinn needs funds for his toy. It makes sense."

"What's the op?" You asked, turning off the device and you looked at Clint.

"We need new German IDs from the base. Down there, we'll play the boss and his assistant,” your best friend announced and sat back in his seat. "When we land, we'll need a suit, a dress and a pair of glasses you designed… or the design you stole from Stark's armor."

*****************************************

   _One hour later - National Bank, Grand Cayman Island_

Standing in the middle of the great hall, you looked at Clint with his black suit on while you wore a peplum dress. The bank employee finally walked up to you with his tab in hand to check your fake identities before you could have access to Quinn’s deposit box in the vault.

"Mr Müller would like to access his safe-deposit box. Here's his account number." You pretended with a bright smile and handed the man a small paper with what he needed written.

“I will also need your IDs, please." He smiled as he looked at you.

"Of course." You turned to Clint, "Ich hoffe, Fitz hat seinen Job gut gemacht," You both handed your cards and waited while the man scanned everything on his device, hoping everything would be alright with them.

{Let’s hope Fitz did a good job with these.}

Clint smiled, "Haben Sie Ihre Messer dabei?"

{You have your knives with you?}

You faked to giggle, nodding your head and the man looked up at you confused, "Mr Müller thinks about moving in the Islands." You answered to the employee and he smiled proudly. Once the check went right, the man left to his office a few minutes and came back to you.

"Follow me,” the bank manager gestured to the stairs on your right and walked to them. You followed him to the vault where you had to find Quinn's own box, and the employee put ‘Mr Müller's’ box on the table, saying to take your time and he finally left you alone.

Whilst Clint cast a glance at the main door, you grabbed a mini bomb in your bag and placed it inside Müller’s box before putting it back in its original place. You waited for the slight explosion that blew off every lock of the room. The charge inside the bomb was enough to open all the boxes, but you were focused on one only. The most important.

"Ian Quinn’s is the 38," Clint informed and you took it to place it on the table, allowing the archer to open the box. As its containment was clear to your sight, you touched your glasses to activate their functionalities. Like Tony in his own suit, you could have any information appearing on the glass-screen to your eyes only.

"Fitz, we need anything on Quinn. Anything that would get us to him." You requested and took every paper or cards inside the box to show him through your glasses that were also designed with a nano camera; this would help the agent to find something you needed.

 _‘Yeah,’_ Fitz answered through your coms. _‘Real estate deeds, passport. No cash?'_

“He must've cleared this all out." Clint mused, "we can-"

 _‘There's something on my security screen…’_ The engineer interrupted and warned you, _‘uh, guys, I think you triggered an alarm somewhere._ ' As soon as the Scottish agent finished his words, a loud alarm rang in the vault room and echoed inside the whole building.

"Great! How much time do we have?" Clint asked as you tried to flee.

 _‘Uh, oh. It looks like zero.'_ Fitz sighed and the manager that led you there and two guards rushed inside to stand in front of the only door of the vault.

"Wir sind am Arsch,“ the archer faked a smile and you looked at him doubtful.

{We’re screwed.}

"What is happening in here?" The bank employee asked as he watched the box on the table and the ones that were opened, with locks scattered on the ground.

"Ich werde mir den Kerl auf der linken Seite vornehmen.“ Clint turned to you, "du kümmerst Dich um den Mann auf der rechten Seite. Der Manager wird kein Problem sein.."

{I’ll take out the one on the left; you go for the one on the right. Manager won’t be an issue.}

"My boss would like to congratulate you,” you decided to ignore your best friend’s plan and he turned his head to you, surprised by your decision. Usually, you would punch your way out, but this time you were almost petrified at the thought of this option. You were still traumatized.

"What?" The Manager breathed and looked at you, eyes widening and muddled.

"Your security system is top-notch, and your team is incredibly efficient,” you pointed at the guards and smiled, keeping your cool. "Just what we'd hope for."

"Du machst wohl Witze… Im Ernst, das ist keine gut Idee," Clint chuckled awkwardly as he thought you became gun shy for your first assignment together since the events in Hohhot.

{You must be kidding me... Seriously, this isn’t a good idea.}

"We've been reading up on you and we'd like to offer you a job," you maintained in ignoring the archer, who continued to smile at the very confused men before you.

"A job?” The bank employee scoffed, “this seems most unorthodox."

 _‘Oh, I see where you're going with this.’_ Fitz read your game and typed on his keyboard, _‘I'm sending you the files, wait... okay.'_ The next second, all the data you needed about the employee’s life and CV appeared on your glasses.

"We were sent from your former employer, First Fiduciary National, and they would like you back. I know it's been hard, your wife missing Miami. How long have you been separated?" You carried on as the guards and the man you talked to seemed to relax,” you're only earning 4% more than you were in 2009. We can do better."

“Das ist einfach nur gemein," Clint turned to you and his strong stare urged you to finish and leave.

{That’s just mean.}

"You know about that… too? I- I have been looking to… to make a change." The bank manager spluttered, looking embarrassed as he finally left the suspicions on you.

"Siehst Du ?” You turned to Clint with a smile, “Diplomatie funktioniert." You announced proudly, yet the guard on Hawk’s right took his gun out of his belt like he had understood your words.

{See? […] Diplomacy works.}

"Not for this guy," your partner in crime smiled, pointing at the man, “now we do it my way!"

Chuckling, Clint side kicked the guard in front him and you swallowed hesitantly as you were forced to run to the second, punching his face and you supported your weight on the table to give him a hard kick in the neck.

"Sorry," you grabbed the manager's tie and slammed his head against the wood.

"Come one, we gotta get out of there." Clint threw your bag to your hands and rushed outside the vault room with you closely following him. As you ran until you reached the hall, you exited the building casually not looking back. Without being seen, you returned to S.H.I.E.L.D.’s black van where Agent Fitz was waiting for you in the parking lot.

As Clint began to drive out of the bank, you went in the back to sit next to the engineer who had more information about your target thanks to the papers you showed him inside the vault.

"Okay, each of those passports has a different fake identity for Ian Quinn,” Fitz paused to look at you. “Uh… my work is better, just for the record." He sated like it was obvious.

"We know,” you chuckled and looked at his computer screen.

"Right. Well, one ID matches the name on one Quinn real estate holding a penthouse in Havana. So, I did a sweep of passengers arriving at the Havana airport. He went through customs several hours ago."

"Nice work, Fitz. Thanks." You gave him a high five and turned to talk to your driver, “so, we go to a penthouse in Cuba."

 

*****************************************

   _A few hours later - Havana, Cuba_

Sitting inside the van stashed with Clint, waiting for Ian Quinn to come in his penthouse, you sighed heavily as you checked your clock to see that it had only been three hours stuck in there in what looked like a simple stakeout.

"Gosh, I'm already falling asleep;” you tapped your cheeks, “Clint, just talk to me."

"What do you want me to say? We have to wait here,” he paused and lowered his binoculars when the chance to discuss came in. “So, you want to talk about what happened at the bank?" The archer asked and you knew he mentioned the fact you wanted to avoid the fight.

"There's nothing to discuss. I was treating fighting as a last resort. Usually that's good."

"Usually." He agreed and took your hand, leaving you frowning, "or maybe because you’re gun shy. That's why you're asking for more and more missions since we’re back in the field."

"I don’t see what you’re talking about," you brushed it off and grabbed the binoculars, hoping Clint would give up on the idea to make you admit anything. As you tried to act tough and bury things down like you had always done, your best friends were still concerned about you.

After a bit more than six months, your ‘suspension’ finally ended and you had the right to go back in the field with Clint eight weeks prior. These past few months had been very hard on you; the paperwork wasn’t your thing. S.H.I.E.L.D. lowered your clearances from seven to level three, which meant you had no access to information about your friends’ missions. You couldn’t even talk to them during work and that left you even more perplexed.

"Stop hiding behind these walls, Y/N,” Clint exclaimed, and took back the device; “you know I'm talking about what happened in China, you were afraid of making the same mistakes."

"I'm not hiding,” you lied, looking down at your hands, "I said I wanted back in the field."

"Why are you keeping yourself locked up?” As he stared at you, you dropped his gaze away. “You know, I saw you train at the academy once, scouting you." Clint confessed and your eyes caught his in curiosity, “strongest recruit I ever saw… _before_ I met Natasha." You both chuckled and he continued, “you are better today because now, you have experience.”

“What these militaries did. How they tortured us. You think that was just experience?”

“That can make you stronger. Let it.” He advised and you scoffed, “there’s nothing to doubt about you. Yeah, we’ve been caught, but we did the right thing. You’re strong, so don't let anyone make you think you're nothing because I swear they will deeply regret it. Heard that?"

"Right,” you smiled at him. “Don't talk about that or I'll throw you off this planet, Legolas." You said as you enveloped him into a thankful hug. Those simple words had a quite good effect.

"That's my Y/N." He laughed and broke away to look through the binoculars. "I think our guy is back." He said, seeing the man you were looking for leaving his own car.

Quinn entered the building with his three bodyguards and you discretely left the vehicle, following them into it as you walked through the halls. You looked for his penthouse's doors while Clint sneaked into the building across yours, ready to shoot arrows from the rooftop.

Once you had spotted the right number, you ran to the penthouse and took your knives from the back of your suit. You slammed the double front doors open with your foot.

"Ian. Missed me?" You walked up to him alone in the living room, playing with the blades in your hands as he stared at you, unprepared to see you coming here so early after the bank manager had informed the scientist about the attack inside the vault.

 "Agent Y/N Stark. You, again?” Quinn chuckled, slowly walking backwards the room to run downstairs towards the pool outside. You followed him closely, not wanting to see him leave again. As you exited the apartment, two bodyguards were waiting for you and the scientist rushed to edge of the building until a helicopter showed up.

“Clint, I lost Quinn. Do you have him in sight?”

_‘Already shooting at his men outside.’_

“All right. Here we go,” you saw the two men approaching you and motivated yourself.

You jumped from the small staircase and stabbed the first guy in his back to give him a knee strike in the stomach. The second bodyguard came from behind and you ducked, avoiding his hit. You stabbed his chest to finally jump and you gave him a high kick. Not even panting, you turned around, staring at Quinn, who was already leaving with his helicopter.

"I always win, Stark!" He yelled through the sound of the blade flapping and you cursed as you could see him smirking.

“Clint, you can shoot at the helicopter?”

 _‘On it,’_ your teammate affirmed and you sighed, turning around.

The third bodyguard arrived in front of you by surprise and punched your face, making you lose your balance. Yet, as you tried to stand up, he kicked your hands before you could stab him and clasped his hands around your neck. Suffocating, you shakily reached for your catsuit’s pocket and pulled out a mini knife to hit him deep in his bicep. When the bodyguard let go of your neck, you pushed him in the pool with you and as you continued to fight inside the water, he grabbed your head and tried to drown you.

"I've taken down men three times your size, girl!" You heard the bodyguard through the liquid accompanied by a big explosion from outside. Still in the water, you reached for your thigh belt and took a gun; you punched the guard’s crotch and emerged from the water. Gulping for air, you aimed and shot him twice in the chest.

"What did you say?!" You sassed as he fell in the water and you left the swimming pool, feeling the pain in your throat and seeing the other guards still lying on the ground.

 _‘Y/N, I’ve got Quinn!’_ Clint informed and you concluded that the blow was caused by the explosive arrow he aimed at the aircraft. _‘Time to go back to the base, and make our report. You made a good job, (Y/SH/N).'_

"It’s about time,” you panted and looked up to the sky, “every time I'm around this guy, I end in his pool. Why?"


	33. Don't Mess with Widow - (Clint x Reader x Natasha)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Featuring: Phil Coulson, Thor (mentioned) and Tony Stark  
> Rating: Teens and Up  
> Summary: Clint better not mess with Black Widow and trust Reader.  
> Words Count: 1.7k  
> Warnings: Language! *poor Chris, who had to read this line. Seriously, Steve's a soldier and one of the characters who swear the most in the MCU!*  
> Author's Note: Oh, and if I hadn't mentioned it before, I'll do it now... I'm in love with a certain blonde Prince of Asgard.

_ _

_August 2011 - a restaurant, Manhattan, NYC_

Sitting at a table in a corner of the restaurant, you ate with Phil where you had booked a lunch together before a new mission together the next day. His girlfriend was supposed to join you, but as a notorious musician, she was stuck at the auditorium for some auditions.

"You are always wearing a tie, even on days off,” you noticed the strange detail on his outfit and grinned. “Who are you and what did you do to Philip Coulson?"

Phi’s eyes fell back as he scoffed, "time off, take off the tie."

You continued to eat, talking about your latest affectations, but also about Audrey. She was a very talented cellist; he’d met a few years back when he’d saved her from a psychopath fan of hers. You liked her much and you were very happy for Phil because he deserved to be.

"I still can't believe you met _the_ Thor Odinson!" You hissed in a too pitchy voice for your liking.

Coulson chuckled and drank from his glass, “calm down. It was two months ago."

"And? I’ve seen the footage and this man is so handsome and kind. A real teddy bear,” you smiled. “I wish I was in New Mexico with you and Barton," you finished eating your dishes.

"You are overreacting; Y/N... and you were with Romanoff. It's the price to be one the best."

"Dude, you are the best and you met a Prince of Asgard and Lady Sif! Are you even aware?!” You gave him widened eyes, "I read some books about the Vikings mythology and it isn’t real, of course, yet now I just… I- I... Okay, Thor came here, the Destructor caused troubles- sure, but I would’ve been very glad to meet him because… obvious reasons.”

Phil snapped his fingers to bring you back to reality when he caught you dropping his gaze in a loving state. "First, I think he’s dating the astrophysicist who was with him. Second. Did you call me ‘dude’?" You nodded with a huge grin and he shook his head whilst you both finished your drinks, "I may be like a father to you, but I'm still your superior... Speaking of Barton did you hear what happened with Romanoff today?"

"No, why?" You wondered.

"Agent 13 told me they argued as usual, but then they challenged each other in a strength contest. The fight was so intense that they crushed Fury’s office on their way." He announced and you snorted not even shocked by their silly behavior.

"Well, these two are so weird together sometimes that I feel like I’m very normal next to them. They’re always having fun without me, though. Not fair!” You both laughed and continued your chit chat without even looking at the clock.

It was late afternoon when you stood up, ready to leave. After Phil paid the bill and insisted to take you home, you walked out of the restaurant into the crowded streets of Manhattan.

"I'm heading to my penthouse this time. Stark Tower is still too big for me.” You joked, continuing to the parking lot and there she was. Lola. A 1962 Chevrolet red Corvette. Phil’s very precious car that nobody could touch. Not even brush a finger on its auto body.

"Can I drive it?” You asked, wearing your cutest puppy eyes, “please, please, please!"

"No, you can't." He was _much_ attached to this car, because it reminded him of his late father.

"Why, I'm sure they all did. Your _'don't touch Lola'_ is bullshit,” you retorted, mocking his voice.

"First of all, you are a terrible driver. Second of all, if anyone touches Lola… I'll crush him."

****

_Your penthouse, Manhattan, NYC_

Since you had gotten back to work in last February, you’d asked for more and more missions without any single break. The usual, actually. You just wanted to feel the fight like you used to.

Fury agreed- at your _surprise_ -to give you a week off after numerous solo missions, saying ‘a good agent needs some rest sometimes.’ After declining this offer two times, you had finally decided to enjoy the break by coming back to your hometown, New York. Exactly where you had spent your first years on this planet, mostly between Manhattan and Long Island.

"No, Tony! I won't talk to Fury,” you talked to your brother on the phone, walking inside the living room of your place as you both ‘argued’ about the shutdown Avenger Initiative.

_'Come on, I'm sure I could be a great asset to your super secret crew.'_

"You know, he's my boss not my best friend. And you heard his reasons. Just work on it."

 _'Really, Y/N? I won't change for your agency,’_ Tony notified and you laughed, _‘I bet they will come back to me one day. I am Iron Man.'_

“Oh, shit I hadn’t noticed,” you chuckled, knowing he rolled his eyes, "I take the bet."

_‘500 bucks I’m right.’_

“You got it, Metal-“ your conversation was cut off when someone knocked hard at your door. "Sorry, bro, but I have to hang up. Someone is at my door. Love you, bye."

 _'No. No, Y/N, we’re not-'_ Despite his cries, you hung up and went at the door to see a terrified and sweaty Clint resting on your doorway. By his face, he was hiding and needed help.

"What's happening?" You asked, worried and moved aside to let him come in.

"I need to lay low somewhere,” he then began to stroll in your penthouse and stopped in the bedroom. "Geez, I won’t get used to it. Your place is huge, a castle for my kids."

“Billionaire’s life,” you smirked and he narrowed his brows.

“Yeah, and you said it was boring,” the archer reviewed, but you shrugged it off as you tried to know what was wrong with him. Why was he there?

"Wait, are you even in danger?" You took the gun from your nightstand by instinct.

He shrugged, “sort of."

"What did you-" you stared at him, putting your hands on your hips. "It's gotta be Natasha. Phil told me that Sharon told him about your fight, so what did you do this time?"

Clint stretched the back of his neck while talking, "I accidentally hit her in the face. Hard."

"How?" You huffed a laugh, putting back the weapon underneath your pillow.

"We were in the training room and as usual, we fought and teased each other. When she told me I'd never have a chance to hit her, I just did it," He explained, having his special grin on his face, "first; I didn't regret it, and then she gave me her famous ' _I will find you and kill you_ ' look. So, I took off and went to you."

"You are a dead man,” you analyzed; coming back in the living room as he followed you. Yet, you stopped causing a small bump between you, turning to him, “you mean you left D.C. to take a flight to hide at my penthouse?" He responded positively and you laughed again, “are you out of your mind? You chose to hide in your close friend's place."

"Yeah, now that you say it, that seems pretty stupid." The archer admitted and collapsed on the couch as you went to the kitchen and poured two glasses of fresh water for him and you.

Clint and Natasha had this weird and funny relationship that _nobody_ could understand. They shared such a great bond that it felt like they knew each other since childhood. They were practically brother and sister. A relationship you knew that would never shatter.

"You took a Quinjet without permission?" You guessed and as he emptied his glass quickly, your best friend ignored, glancing at the ceiling.

"Vents, huh?" He interrogated with a knowing face and you hesitated a quick moment before nodding slowly, "I can hide in here if she arrives."

At that exact moment the doorbell rang and you stared at each other, surprised or scared.

"Y/N, it's Nat,” you heard her voice from the other side of the door. “Open, please."

You gestured to Clint to hide quickly and as you walked to the entrance of your penthouse- from the bar -the spy jumped to hide in the vents not leaving any sign of his presence or so he thought. As soon as he was inside, you opened the door to greet Natasha with a smile.

"Good to see you Tasha, how are you doing?"

"Well, I'm looking for something... Or someone." She looked around you and began to walk in.

"What do you mean?" You asked, following her inside your penthouse.

Nat stopped and so did you, "Barton. I have something to tell him and I know he's there."

"Hawkeye? I didn't see him,” you lied perfectly like you had been trained to do.

Your other spy best friend gave you a suspicious glare and eventually went to your bedroom. Nothing and as she turned to look at you- behind her -Clint silently jumped from the ceiling.

"Whoa…,” you yelped and immediately tried to regain a natural composure, leaning against the doorway with an awkward smile.

"What?" Nat turned to analyze your room, but nothing suspicious was to be seen. When she returned to your attention, Clint stood from under your bed and discretely crawled to your bathroom. It felt like you were hiding your boyfriend from your oh so invading mom.

"I just saw a plane with a banner ad for Pop Tarts. They are my favorites,” you gloated.

“Really, Y/N?” The ex redhead assassin rolled her eyes and walked to look under your bed and behind the curtains.

You breathed in relief as Natasha came back in the living room, and while she sat on your sofa with you next to her, she stared at the low table for a too long moment to your liking.

"You were with someone,” she pointed out.

"What?" You interrogated, as cool as you could be. Not even giving her a wrong impression.

As a simple response, Natasha nodded her head towards the glasses of water and your head fell backwards. She was definitely too strong for you or anyone.

"In my en-suite bathroom,” you whispered in a defeated tone and she stormed out of the living room to find your partner in crime.

"Y/N!" Clint cried from the other side of your penthouse where his deadly adorable best friend forever rushed to join him.

“C’mon, you are freaking Clintasha! You’ll make up in ten minutes!” You yelled and sipped from your water, “call it a vengeance because you met Thor without even telling me!”


	34. Meet the Captain - [Prologue]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pairing: Nick Fury/Phil Coulson/Steve Rogers x Reader  
> Rating: Teens and Up  
> Summary: Fury assigns Reader to bring back home a certain famous war hero, but she doesn't even except what's going to happe.  
> Words Count: 1.9k  
> Warnings: None. You'll be too shocked to swear. Trust me.  
> Author's Note: My early Christmas gift to you... 'meeting' Steve Rogers for the first time.

    _February 2012 [overnight] - Your penthouse, Manhattan, NYC_

Peacefully sleeping in your bedroom, your rest was interrupted as some thuds could be heard from the kitchen. You fluttered your eyes open in suspicion and the time you tried to know what caused the noises, a new silence invaded your penthouse.

Instinctively, you turned your head to look at the clock, which indicated a very early hour in the morning. In a familiar move, you took a gun from the nightstand, sliding out of the bed.

As you discretely sneaked into the kitchen where the suspicious fuss restarted and became even louder, you were about to pull the trigger of your weapon- ready to shoot -when a tall man turned around with two steamy cups of coffee in his hands.

"Lower this weapon, agent." Fury’s voice calmed you down and you clenched your jaw as you turned the light on, putting your gun on the worktop.

"Nick, I know you like doing this a lot, but you should use the spare key I gave you.” You suggested, looking at the opened window and he just gave you a cup as a response, gesturing to take a seat with him beside the island.

"Your mission with Team Delta is canceled,” he announced. "New plans for you.”

“Then you- the Big Boss -came into my penthouse in the middle of the night to tell me I won't be part of an assignment, how sweet of you.” You gave him a fake cheeky smile, taking a long sip of your hot drink. “Because I wasn't expecting you there, sir."

"It’s an extreme case,” Fury gave you his ' _I don't give a damn_ ' look accompanying his answer.

"What is it?" You questioned, curiosity taking over the annoyance.

"I've been woken up by a call this morning... a call from up north with big news. We've found Steve Rogers." He revealed and you almost spat the coffee, jaw dropping in utter surprise.

All of a sudden, you were speechless. Finding Captain Rogers’ body was something S.H.I.E.L.D. had focused on since its creation. Even when your father still worked with S.S.R., he had spent all his free time in endless researches to find the body, but when this couldn’t seem to happen, Howard had only seen this failure as one of his biggest regrets in life.

“When? And… and how?” You finally spoke up, after the shock of the news cooled down.

"Two years ago, I personally assembled a team with Coulson. During this time in the Arctic, we used our best technologies to find the crashed plane. And we did last night."

You kicked your eyebrows, “sorry, boss, but what does it have to do with me?"

"That's the thing. We need you up there with Coulson, I want to know everything’s alright."

"Make sure the Captain comes back without any problem?" You inquired and Fury nodded, leaving you puzzled. “Why now? You said you’ve been working on it without me so far."

"You are the closest to Rogers’ friends here; I thought it'd be better for you to join at this moment." As an answer, you nodded and thought of how your dad would react if he was still alive, but mostly how Peggy would react. “The Quinjet is already waiting for you to leave.”

*****************************************

_Seven hours later - Somewhere in Arctic_

Buckled up to a seat at the back, the jet flew to where S.H.I.E.L.D. had found Hydra’s plane- the Valkyrie -and you overlooked at the window then back to the level 9 agent with a grin.

"Hey, please when we get there. Don't over do it." You teased Coulson, who sat next to you and he crossed his arms, asking what you meant by those words. "Phil, I know you will act like a fanboy. So, keep your feels for yourself." You laughed and he shook his head.

"I'm not acting like a fanboy,” he tried to explain, “I'm just a person who appreciates what Captain Rogers did for the country, like millions of people in the world, actually."

"You are just a few to collect items that belonged to Cap or the Howling Commandos. _And_ even fewer to have his vintage cards,” you claimed and he just shrugged, looking away. “Look, I’m just teasing. I’m not a big fan, alright? But that’s it, I know the guy because of dad.”

“So, don't overreact _as well_ ," Phil tried to contour, referring to your family and you scoffed.

“All this, because I'm the daughter of the engineer, who made the Project Rebirth real?" You wondered with a smile and he nodded his head. “If it makes you happy, I'm also kinda impatient to see him ‘cause I grew up with the last people he interacted with. And- with all my honestly -I only accepted the mission for my father, otherwise I wouldn’t be here."

"Agent Coulson, Agent Stark, sorry to interrupt your fan reunion, but we’ve just landed." The pilot interrupted and as soon as he finished, you left the Quinjet, heading to the interesting location covered by the snow stretched as far as the eyes could see.

While walking, Phil began to complain, "I'm freezing, though I wear a coat, scarf and glides with double thickness. And _you_ are there, simply dressed in your suit. You know, sometimes I wish I had your abilities,” you giggled and through the snowy dust, you spotted an enormous plane half buried in the ice.

In a simple second, you glanced at each other and started to run fast towards the Valkyrie where you entered after you had descended inside.

Pointing your flashlight in the dark plane, you saw- near the cockpit -a huge block of ice that could contain a human. A man very well-built. You took a closer look at it and through the ice; you could only notice a part of the uniform: the white star on the chest. You swallowed thickly as you stared at the man inside and finally began to look at every detail around Captain Rogers. His famous shield was lying inside the ice next to him and you knelt to brush a hand above it as a small smile curled your lips.

They finally found Captain Steve Rogers was all you could think straight at that moment.

Your father used to say during the war he’d found friends and he’d found a family. At that time, neither Tony nor you understood why he talked about it, but you couldn’t deny how emotional Howard would be if he was still alive. You wished he was there to share this moment.

When your mind eventually came back to reality, you strolled in and took the opportunity to analyze the last and famous Hydra plane, a beautiful piece of technology for their time.

As you continued to point your flashlight at everything on your way for endless minutes, Phil was speechless, touching the shield like he couldn’t believe what was happening. No matter how hard he tried, you knew he couldn’t be happier, prouder and more scared at the same time. Only, this excitement was interrupted when an agent came down the Valkyrie.

"Sir, we received new direct orders from Director Fury. You are requested at HQ for a new mission concerning the Tesseract with Barton and Dr. Selvig. It’s about Phase 2,” the man announced and you frowned, looking at Coulson with a questioning look. You had never heard of these code names before this day.

"Copy that, Wilson," Phil looked disappointed. "Y/N, stay here until the team defrosts Cap."

In a quick moment when Coulson left, you came back to the cockpit and touched the ice, sitting on the floor next to the Captain's body. You exclusively thought of what could happen when you would call Peggy to break the news. Your brain and mind were rushing, racing between questions and theories. Steve Rogers was finally found.

"Captain, it’s agent Y/N Stark here.” You whispered to him through the block separating you, even though you knew he couldn't hear or even answer, it made you feel less lonely there. “I must say it's been a big surprise for us to find you, even after sixty seven years,” you looked around you, smiling sadly. “I wish you hadn't lived your last moment that way. We’ll bring you back and give you the honors you deserve, sir,” you paused. “I’m talking to a giant Popsicle.”

Eventually, after two more hours of whispering as you remained next to Rogers, the team had finally extracted the huge ice block from the Valkyrie to the jet on its way to New York.

"This is over. You are going home, Steve,” you murmured, looking at him through the ice, yet as it began to melt under your heated touch, you took off your hand. It wasn't your job to do this, you had to bring him back in the continent and that was it.

As the team decided to defrost him in the Quinjet rather than at HQ, you stayed with them, carefully watching the process. You didn't want to leave the body. You felt like you had to stay with him and know everything about what had happened to Cap after the plane crash.

It took three hours for the scientists to melt the entire ice around the Captain’s figure and based on the latest photos of him Peggy had, he hadn't changed. He was in an unbelievable good shape and very handsome, though his skin was a light blue due to the cold temperature.

You took Rogers hand in yours just to warm him up and finally finish the process on your own. A quite long moment after you’d finished radiating heat; you felt Cap’s hand squeezing yours very lightly as he shakily brushed a thumb over your knuckles. Astounded, you gasped loudly and put your free hand on your mouth, trying to reassure yourself it was a simple sensation. Were you dreaming? How could he do that? That couldn’t happen! It was impossible!

“What the...” you blinked your eyes a moment and swallowed hard, mumbling something about how it was all an illusion and that you didn’t feel his touch. It was just in your head, but yet again Rogers tightened his grip on your hand a bit more and you froze in place. Shocked.

You looked over at the team of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s best scientists in front of you and took the super soldier’s pulse, still holding his hand to have another response and all you felt was a weak heartbeat. You inhaled very deeply; astonished to witness he was still alive. How was it even possible after all these years in the ice? He was alive, but this was theoretically impossible.

Dr Mayer glanced at you and when he seemed to understand why you were in such state of disbelief, he decided to check himself and took the Captain's pulse to be sure as well. The same emotions were quick to draw on his features as he stared at the legendary soldier- and greatest tactician -supposed to be dead, lying on the examining table.

"Oh, my God, this guy's still alive!" He exclaimed and everyone around dropped their stuff.

"Wilson, give me a direct line to the Colonel,” you ordered and the spy blinked. “Now!"

"But it's almost eleven pm in New York, Agent Stark."

"I don't care what time it is! This one's waited long enough,” you firmly enveloped Cap's hand, looking at him without even realizing what was happening. Was it even real or just a dream?


	35. Meet the Captain - (Steve Rogers x Reader) 1/2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rating: Teens and Up  
> Summary: Fury has a new assignment for Reader that isn't easy at all, but helping Captain America is a challenge she will take up.  
> Words Count: 2.1k  
> Warnings: None.  
> Author's Note: In Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season two, Coulson says that S.H.I.E.L.D. had sent Steve to a cabin for a few weeks after he had been defrosted, so here you go.

   _February, 2012. [Two days later] - S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Headquarters, Manhattan, NYC_

Standing in the middle of a restroom, you tightened the tie around your neck under a white vintage shirt’s collar, and you zipped up the green khaki pencil skirt from a WWII military uniform. You looked at your reflect in the mirror and perfected your makeup and hairstyle back from the forties as you tried to motivate yourself, the shock of the news still here.

After your boss had especially asked you to be the one to interact with Captain Rogers when he would wake up and help him in his first steps into the twenty-first century, you eventually accepted and Fury gave you his trust to do everything in your power to counter the situation.

The reason why you were disguised was because you kept the Captain in a simulated forties environment to try to ease him into what was about to happen when you'd tell him the truth.

You didn’t know how Rogers would react and you didn’t know how to announce the truth. You were left alone in the dark; you had to do it on your own. You had to announce the terrible news to him, the cruelest. You knew you would be here for him if it was needed. It would be.

Your thoughts were interrupted as someone knocked at the door. "Stark, we need you here. Rogers is waking up.”

“Right. Let’s go, Y/N,” you straightened your skirt, heading to the Captain made up set room and you took a deep breath, entering. As you shut the door behind you, the sound of the old radio filled the thick air and Cap remained sitting on the bed, thoughtfully looking around him.

"Good morning,” you glanced at your watch. "Or should I say afternoon,” you corrected and a smile curled your lips, finally meeting the _blue_ eyes- you’d heard about -for the first time.

The Captain looked up at you with a mix of confusion and light anger like he knew something was wrong with this room, but his orbs had also something soft and vulnerable in their color. Yet, he didn't take his eyes off yours for a quick moment until he finally spoke up.

"Where am I?"

"You're in a recovery room in New York City,” you kept smiling gently as he stared at you from up and down; he then turned his eyes to the window, the radio and back to your body.

"Where am I, really?" The soldier asked with a suspicious tone and you internally screamed.

"I'm afraid, I don't understand,” you kept your cool, yet you knew something was incorrect.

"The game. It's from May, 1941. I know ‘cause I was there,” he said in a low tone and rose up from his bed, coming closer to you. "Now, I'm going to ask you again. Where am I?"

As his strong and impenetrable gaze urged for you to answer, you discretely clicked the button on a black remote that was hidden inside your skirt pocket to call for backup.

"Captain Rogers-"

"Who are you?!"

Two fellow agents from STRIKE walked in behind you to calm America’s New Hope down, only the super soldier slammed them both through the wooden wall without even trying to fight you. Looking lost in this fake environment, the Captain left the room quickly and took a look around the hall then back to you, for a second to see the made up set.

"Captain Rogers, wait!" You shouted, but it was useless as he began to run outside. Groaning, annoyed, you followed him- with your high heels on -and used your walkie-talkie.

"All agents: code thirteen. I repeat all agents: code thirteen.” While you rushed after him, he pushed his way out of the building and left without great difficulty. “It will be easy, they said!”

Rogers ran into the streets of a whole new Manhattan to him and seemed strayed around the crowd as he took a corner to step in one of the most visited tourist attractions. Finally, he was stopped by several black cars surrounding him in the middle of Times Square and you raced to settle next to him, seeing a horde of people watching the scene with curiosity.

Breathing heavily, the soldier stared at you like he was trapped in a new world and you smiled to reassure him. Once again, it was useless as you saw his features contorting in pure concern.

"At ease, soldier!" Captain Rogers turned around to see Fury walking over him. “Look, I'm sorry about that little show back there. But, we thought it best to break it to you slowly."

"Break what?" The super soldier panted.

"You've been asleep, Cap. For almost seventy years,” the Director spat the terrible news and the Captain turned around with shock written on his face. "You gonna be okay?" Fury finally asked as Rogers stood there silent, trying to process what was happening to him.

"Yeah. Yeah, I just... I had a date." At this moment, you felt pity for the guy. You couldn't imagine how lonely he felt among all of these people. He was in the middle of a new era to him and you knew his mind was rushing, you sensed he thought it was all a nightmare.

"Captain Rogers, I'm agent Y/N Stark. I'm assigned to help you in any way. If you have any question or if you just want to talk, I'll be there,” you smiled brightly at him and reached out your hand firmly. “Nice to meet you, sir."

"Ma'am,” he tried to smile back, but he was far away in his thoughts.

"We won the war by the way, Hitler’s dead."

 

 *****************************************

    _Several days later - S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Quinjet_

As Rogers kept looking through the jet’s window, you flew to a location where a cabin in a forest had been prepared for him and where he would spend a few weeks.

You had spent the previous days with Captain Rogers when he wasn't that happy, yet you’d tried to keep a certain close distance. Of course, as you had promised, you visited your old friend to break the news and she was more than exciting about it, crying tears of shock, joy and relief. Peggy had also been anxious about meeting him and she had told you to give him time before telling him she was still alive.

You switched the hand steering to autopilot and sat next to him, "I'm sorry about everything that's happening, Captain.” You turned to look at him and smiled as he was still distant.

"Not your fault. I don't need pity, ma'am,” he said bitterly.

"Please, don’t call me _ma’am_ ‘cause I feel like my grandma,” you bit your lip as he didn’t even smile. "I got us a little something for the trip,” you handed him a candy bar you’d kept in your coat pocket and you both ate them in an awkward moment. Those silences had become normal after some days.

“See this as a nap that lasted way too long. It can help,” once again you tried to ease the tension, meeting another blank, but you didn’t give up. "I'm here to help,” you assured him. “I don't know how you are feeling exactly right now, but I know you're lost ‘cause I can see it in your eyes. I know that feeling."

"I don't think you know what I'm going through," he looked at you sternly and you sighed, looking down for a few seconds. You hated to talk about yourself or show your vulnerable side to anyone, it made you feel weak and you had been taught that being weak wasn’t normal. Yet, if you wanted Cap to speak, you had to be honest. Without your fearless mask.

"Not the exact same, yeah,” you rose your head, gathering some strength. “When I was six, my parents died and I felt very lonely at the time, even though hundreds of people were around. Something powerful inside me made feel not normal, I was… I was just scared of myself, but my brother was there for me, like S.H.I.E.L.D., they made me realize I was okay and in the right place. So, I know it's very recent for you and that you're not feeling in the right place too, but I can be the one to help you. If you let me to." You met his eyes with a small smile and he mimicked slightly, for the first time since you had officially met him.

"Are you going to tell where we are going?"

"I'm afraid that's confidential,” you glanced at the cockpit windows. “We're almost there."

A few minutes later, you came out of the jet and headed to the small house- behind a lack -with bags of groceries Cap _insisted_ to carry. After a quick argue about it, you stepped inside the cabin, putting the bags on the kitchen table to stroll in and get familiar to his new home.

"It's one of Fury's old retreats. Haven't been in here in years,” you remarked.

"Fury's not the kind of man who has a cabin just to relax. Is he?" He analyzed and you chuckled. In three days, Rogers already knew who the Director was. "What’s this place?"

You both started to unpack the groceries as you responded, “it's a safe house for people with powers. I've even spent a few weeks here, back then when I was a simple recruit."

"For people with powers?" The super soldier interrogated, curious to know who they were.

"Yeah, some good people with some weird and cool abilities."

"So, you have powers…?" He asked, opening the fridge, very intrigued this time.

"Let me show you, Cap,” you went to the kitchen's lever to run the water and by the force of will, you froze the clear liquid as well as the lever. Finally, you let the heat rise through your fingers to melt the ice that you had formed. The process finished, you glanced at the soldier who stared at you with zero expression and he collapsed on the couch, lips parted in shock.

"You guys all have the same reaction,” you couldn’t help, but laugh.

"Well, Miss, it's maybe because it's the first time I see a person with powers. Oh, after Red Skull I thought nothing could surprise me. I guess I was wrong."

“Do I look like the Red Skull?!" You gasped.

"Uh, no. No, of course, no! You are pretty even- I mean, you… you are beautiful and… Uh, sorry.” It was your turn to smile as he was embarrassing himself. "Back then I wasn't the guy with numerous girls around him,” he confessed in a shy chuckle, glancing away.

"It's ok, Cap. Relax, nobody’s judging here,” you reassured and rested against the counter.

"So, why am I here?" He came back to the main subject since you had arrived.

"We thought it would be better for you to focus on what happened, away from the world. For your own good, you need time alone."

"You said I was already feeling lonely, so why are you locking me up here?"

"You are not isolated. I'll show you how to use our direct video link to the base and of course I'll drop here by every couple of days. _Everyday_ , if it’s needed. Also, I’ll make sure you catch up what you miss in sixty seven years,” you shushed to sit next to him. “Just remember, we are the good guys who want to help you."

"Yeah, I think I got it,” he said in a cold tone, coming back to the man you only knew.

"Look, it's a safe place. You can relax here; you can use this time to think about what happened and what _will_ happen." You smirked, “it’s a lot to think about. Seventy years.”

"So, the serum into my veins helped me to survive the plane crash and the harsh weather and now, I’m here. In the twenty-first century."

You responded affirmatively, “you have all your time to adapt to this new culture, this new life and we both know this will be very hard. Just ask for Agent Stark if you wanna talk."

Rogers finally smiled, turning his head to you, “just to be sure, are you a Stark like Howard Stark's relative or something?"

"Yep, I’m his daughter,” you announced proudly.

"Oh," he seemed pretty confused, “you look very young to be his daughter.”

"I am young. It's because I was adopted, this explains the fact I don't look like him or mom.”

"Sorry,” the soldier dropped his head to his hands. “I didn’t mean to be rude or something.”

"It's okay,” you giggled to see this big man all uncomfortable, and you looked at him with an amused smile. “You don’t know how to talk to a woman, do you?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, another update in the same week. I hope people will read this... suddenly I realize I post this chapter on Christmas, so it may be a flop. I don't know.  
> Anyway, I wish you a very merry Christmas with your families or friends or s/o. Hope you have/had a great day. Spread the love. xx


	36. Meet the Captain - (Steve Rogers x Reader) 2/2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rating: Teens and Up  
> Summary: Reader keeps visiting Steve, who is more relaxed and it seems like an unexpected friendship find its way.  
> Words Count: 2.2k  
> Warnings: None.

   _March 2012 - S.H.I.E.L.D.’s safe house, Classified_

You stepped inside the cabin where Captain Rogers had lived in for more than a month with a box containing everything you could assemble from Rogers’ old stuff: compass, books, folders, dog tags and even some clothes that the S.S.R. had saved in their archives.

“Cap?” You called for him, walking inside every little room, but you seemed to be alone.

It wasn’t until you heard the sound of wood being cut from the back of the cabin that you knew where the super soldier was. Following the soft melody, you found yourself in the backyard, which was at the edge of a lake- and behind it -was a forest. You spotted Captain Rogers chopping some woods back at you and you leaned against the doorway, smiling.

Since you had met him, the soldier was isolated in a world he didn’t quite recognize. While everyone was glued to their phones, you tried to show the best sides of your century. In a month, you gave him some interesting books about history and you tried to become a friend to him. You did everything in your power to understand what he was living; you unexpectedly did and tried being patient with him even during _rare_ times he wasn’t in a welcoming mood.

In a month, Steve Rogers- not Captain America –had told you some things that had happened in his life, outside his brilliant military career: he never knew his father, his mother left him alone at the age of eighteen and he lost his best friend in the field. Loneliness had been his only companion for a long time in his life and he imagined this would never change.

Like you, this man wasn’t the kind to ask for help when he was lost, but somehow even when he acted distant towards you, he felt like he had to talk to someone. To you. So did he and surprisingly did you. Like you had never done in your life, you talked to someone outside of work and it was a real breath of fresh air.

"I thought the serum helped you keeping yourself warm enough,” you finally spoke up, signaling your presence and Rogers stopped his action, his muscled back tensing up as he heard your voice, which became quite reassuring.

"Indeed,” you could see his figure relaxing slowly. “The woods are just here to blow off some steam, I need to decompress." He placed the ax on the grass, stretching his neck and finally turned to you, smiling and going back inside the cabin where he poured two cups of coffee.

"When I wasn’t looking for another movie for you to watch, I got you some of your stuff S.H.I.E.L.D. kept in their archives,” you sat next to Rogers beside the kitchen island and opened the box you had for him. “Some of those items were in my father's office as well."

For long minutes the soldier’s face changed from a bright smile to a thin line as he searched the pack. Every time he looked at something, you could see the sorrow in his blue eyes while he was reminded by his memories that were so close- like the day before -yet so far away.

"You know, I would’ve never imagined Howard settling down, I've known him as the 'America's Mustachioed Casanova.' I'm glad he did, though." The super soldier chuckled as the memories came back to him and he emptied his cup quickly.

"He’d changed because of my mother. When he married her, he wasn't the same womanizer. One thing she couldn't change, Dad has been very busy at work between Stark Enterprises and S.H.I.E.L.D." You played with the silver locker around your neck as you explained. “Unfortunately, I didn't have enough time to enjoy their presence. They both died in a car crash in ninety-one, days before Christmas… I wish I had more time with them."

"I know how it feels, I’m sorry."

"It's fine,” you brushed it off, not ready to talk about this hurtful emotional wound and stood to open the fridge. “How do you feel today?”

“As you wake up from a nightmare, and you have that brief moment of relief as you understand you were just dreaming, but then you realize it actually happened. You just couldn’t stop it,” he shrugged as you gave him an encouraging look with a sly pout. “Other than that, I guess I’m fine,” he chuckled lightly, bringing a smile to your lips.

Humor or sarcasm in this case was a good sign, wasn’t it?

“Everyone has gone through something that has changed them in a way that they could never go back to the person they once were,” you said, grabbing everything you needed to cook the lunch. “But you get up, this is how it works. There’s no need to feel sorry for yourself, nobody will cry for you because this ain’t the right thing to do. You gotta stand and fight.”

“I know and that’s what I’m doing. I’m here, I just need to understand,” he smiled, glancing at his empty cup then at you. “Maybe I’ll take some time off.”

“When was the last time there wasn’t a uniform hanging in your closet?” You inquired, placing your hands on the worktop to have his full attention.

“Why, you don’t like the outfit?” Rogers questioned and you shook your head.

“Oh, _no_ , it suits you. Believe me,” you confessed and an unnoticeable pink tinted his cheeks.

For the next hour while you cooked with the soldier’s help and shared a lunch, you had a conversation about his time in the forties. You didn’t want to know about Captain America, because your father always told Tony about him, you wanted to know more about the man and his time: art, culture, his hobbies, his views on the changes between the 20th and 21st century. You wanted to know more about _Steve_.

"Captain, you know what? You seem like a guy who doesn't want to be treated like a wax statue about to melt. And I agree with you, I've never treated you this way because you are human like all of us,” you said, putting the plates and glasses in the sink. “You may be a ‘symbol’ of this nation, but you're still Steve. You have weaknesses, you’re normal."

"Turn on the T.V.; they see me like a freak,” he mused as he washed the dishes.

"That's something we have in common,” you murmured, and climbed on the counter to watch him while you spoke. "I have a close friend, representing a father figure and like me; he lost his parents at a young age. Thing he remembers most about his dad is he was a car guy. Always working on this junker he insisted his son help him fix. While his friends were outside, playing ball, having fun, there he was, stuck at home with his father, fixing that damn car."

You continued, “wasn't till they finished that it hit him. That car was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. And all the time they'd spent together working on it gave him an appreciation he never would have had otherwise. That car, a red 1962 Corvette, now flies and I’m sure his father would be very proud. How cool is that?"

"It's pretty cool, I admit," Rogers responded and you nodded enthusiastically.

"But I think the thing his father would like most about Lola- that’s her name-... at her core; she's still just a red sixty-two Corvette."

"Just to be clear, I’m the Corvette in this story, right?" He wondered and you nodded.

"Agent Coulson told me this story when I was seen like a freak outside. What I’m saying is, this skinny and oh so reckless Steve Rogers is still here,” you pointed towards his heart. “It’s just the envelope that got bigger, and if I can see this, then everybody will.”

“What else do you see?” The super soldier questioned, washing his hands.

“Well… you are brave, determined, stubborn, compassionate, selfless, strong, kind, warmhearted, protective, caring and sympathetic.”

“All that in a month. And not the best,” Rogers chuckled, impressed and sat next to you.

“Sorry if my professional experience makes me analyze people,” you explained, laughing.

“What about you? Since I know you, you’ve been here for me, but you don’t seem to be so open to talk about who you really are inside. Outside of work.”

“You don’t seem to trust me yet,” you tried to counter the question.

“Only because you are hiding. We’ve talked together, but who is Y/N? Not the spy.”

Taken aback by his question, you swallowed thickly, trying to find a way to tell him who you were. It wasn’t like you didn’t want to share something; it was just that you didn’t see the interest in doing so. That question was actually new to you. Nobody at S.H.I.E.L.D. had told you how to respond or how to react. Nobody had taught you to talk about yourself truthfully.

That was- at that moment -how you realized the power they had over your privacy.

“In my life, I- I… I’ve done some things that would make you run away or make you wish you didn’t meet me,” you admitted in front of someone, for the first time. “I’ve been trained to be a spy, to lie and to kill when it’s necessary. _No feelings_. I’ve been made to be like this, that’s who I am. I try to act like this darkness doesn’t define me ‘cause I don’t let it consume me.”

“That’s not what I see,” Rogers whispered, offering you a small smile.

“What do you see?” You queried, eyes shining bright.

“Well…,” he mimicked your earlier tone, earning a beam. “You are patient, independent, strong, stubborn, courageous, very smart, sarcastic, energetic, and understanding.”

You looked down with a weak smile, usually those words would’ve had triggered your suspicion, but coming from this man, you knew he meant them. You didn’t have much to offer outside your work since your life had been clearly defined: spying. You were one to listen and cheer up, not to talk about you and it always seemed natural to be this way. You had decided to only show your happy and positive side.

When you were with your friends, you gave them a shoulder to cry on. You weren’t the kind to talk about your feelings so openly. Life had taught you to not be vulnerable before someone. Life had taught you to play the cool, sarcastic woman, to act like you didn’t care.

“All that in a month,” you finally teased and he shrugged. “Here’s another thing I know we have in common, Cap. We are full of wounds, but we are still standing.”

Sometimes you told yourselves ‘I’m okay.’ Actually, like a mantra you repeated it every time you were facing something hurtful because you were afraid if you ever stopped, even for a moment, you would drown in all the reasons you both weren’t.

"Why are so willing to help me?" Captain Rogers asked, breaking the new silence.

"Because I feel like you've been alone for too long,” you responded, looking into his eyes with sincerity. “Also ‘cause I see you're different. Not in a strange way, but you're better than what people say about you and what I expected. _Slightly_ better," you quipped and he laughed.

That was true. When people said Rogers was the living righteousness- which was true too -you saw a man who could be somber and lost. Behind all they said about the symbol he represented, he was a simple human being with morals and his own old-fashioned code.

Steve Rogers was maybe a freak to some people, but at least, he was willing to go further and not give up because that wasn’t in his nature. He knew he could get over it.

You’d spent the afternoon talking about your work and you also compared your way of life with his back in the days. For the first time, there wasn’t the policy, saying you couldn’t speak about this or that; you shared something personal with someone new. A new friend maybe.

"You told me we won the war, but you didn't tell me what we’ve lost since,” he deadpanned.

"So, you've finished the books I gave you,” you gestured at the pile of pages on a corner of the living room’s low table and he nodded. "In our path for freedom, we made some big mistakes and some very recently. Our government’s trying to make the United States of America a perfect country in this world, but they are failing miserably in a way."

"Seems like it doesn't change from my time,” the soldier acknowledged and you laughed, yet you noticed how tensed he still looked when he mentioned his past.

"When I need to blow off some steam, I have a personal thing;” you shared your tips with him and stood, grabbing some empty bottle glasses inside the cabinets. “I do some exercises; it helps me think straight, it helps me compose myself. It’s a real freeing sensation.”

While you minded your own business, Rogers looked at you and quirked a brow, curious to know why you needed those bottles with your guns.

"What do you do?” He interrogated, following you outside the cabin and in a line up, you placed every bottle on the grass and handed him one of the weapons.

"Usually, I fight, but since we can’t do it because I don’t want to be crushed by a super soldier-” he laughed, shaking his head and you continued. “-we could shoot at these.”

Once you’d finished your words, you aimed and the first glass bottle exploded due to the bullet passing through, shattering it on its damaging way.

"It's not complicated, really. Just point, shoot. Repeat as necessary,” you advised wisely.

Staring at the Captain, you witnessed as he aimed at every bottle, creating loud thuds that could be heard from miles around. You saw that was relaxing him as his features seemed to soften and you knew he needed to let the pressure leave him. He knew you both needed it.

“I could do this all day,” the super soldier smirked, reloading the gun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey,
> 
> So, it looks like you found a new friend after all, even if it didn't start quite well. Steve is a sweetheart, he could only come back to his self, right?  
> It was my choice to have made him colder in the first part because in the Avengers (2012), you can sense he's still hostile towards some people, especially when he realizes that he's living in a new world of dark secrets. That is surely why he had some problems trusting Natasha in the first place.
> 
> I'm teasing you, but I promise you there is one single chapter involving Steve next week and then it's the Avengers chapters, eight to be precise!! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed.


	37. Support - (Steve Rogers x Reader)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rating: Teens and Up  
> Summary: Reader pays a visit to Steve and tells him more about the people they both know and what happened to them.  
> Words Count: 1.9k  
> Warning: One swear. Sorry, Captain.  
> Author's Note: Inspired by a deleted scene in The Avengers where Steve is visiting Manhattan. An old man will make an appearance at some point. *whispering* Don't tell, but this is Stan "The Man" Lee! This legend had to appear at least once in my series.

_ _

_April 2012 - Steve Rogers' Apartment, Brooklyn, NY_

Two weeks earlier, Captain Ro-… _Steve_ had come back from the safe house- where he’d spent more than two months -and moved in a new apartment S.H.I.E.L.D. had rented. It seemed that he was less confused, but he was still pretty distant sometimes when he wanted to be left alone and have his own space. You understood those needs, granting them.

On that day, you had some important S.S.R. and S.H.I.E.L.D. files to give him and you thought it was the right time for him to visit a whole changed New York City.

Your [not so discreet] car parked on the alleyway, you checked if you had all the right papers and finally went to his building where you took the stairs to knock at the wooden door.

"Uh, hi.” The soldier opened with a surprised look, “I wasn't expecting you there today, Y/N.”

"Hey, I wanted to check if everything was alright,” you smiled and he stepped aside to let you come in his small and cute vintage decorated place. You sat on a chair in his dining room, glancing at the details that changed from your penthouse up there, but you liked it.

"I see you are watching the WWII footage we gave you,” you pointed at S.H.I.E.L.D.’s glass screen showing some key moments of the victory. “I always loved that part of our history."

"Yeah. I just wanted to go back in time for a sec,” he confessed, sitting next to you.

" _So_ , how are you doing, Steve?”

"This place reminds me of my apartment I had before my mom passed away. Though, I’m not that lost in the neighborhood. How about you?"

"Feeling good,” you smiled brightly. “I have something,” you handed him the gray files. "It's like all our data on papers we have about the S.S.R., Howling Commandos and the people, who were part of the Avenger Initiative. I'm sure Fury already told you about it."

He responded affirmatively, opening them to check the pages: Dum Dum Dungan, Jim, Union Jack... all deceased. Then, he stopped a long moment on Peggy's personal page and sorrow took over the slight happiness he had fought to find.

Steve glanced at the phone in front of him, probably thinking about calling her. However, he put the file back on the table, not ready to see the former spy yet. It was now your father and your brother's files he checked, not learning anything more than you what you had told him about your family. Once every page analyzed, he looked out at the window, silent for a moment and you waited, unsure about his state.

"Do you know Peggy Carter?" The super soldier finally spoke up.

"You remember, I told you when my parents died, some people were there for me as well as Tony." He nodded and you smiled, ready to tell more about her. "One of them was Peggy, after the war my dad and Peg stayed close friends and founded S.H.I.E.L.D. with Phillips.”

You continued, “when I came into the family, Howard didn't want to make the same mistakes he did with my brother. To make this quick, him and my father weren't close at all, so when I got adopted, Dad thought that being around his closest would make me feel like I was important to him and mom, bur I knew it and that’s how Peggy became a good friend."

"And you’re keeping in touch with her?" Steve asked, hoping you would respond positively.

"Yes, we try to talk every month or so. Unfortunately, when I'm on a mission it's impossible," you put your hand on his forearm with a small smile. "Steve, she knows you are alive."

"You told her?" He questioned unprepared to hear this since he had woken up.

"She doesn't expect you to visit today or next week,” you reassured. “She knows you need time and she just wants to see you when you'll be ready."

“Thanks.” A small smile curled his lips, "I almost forgot, do you want something to drink or…?" He tried to change the subject and released his arm from your touch, like he wasn’t ready to hear more about Peggy.

"Sure, but not here,” you chuckled as he frowned. "Come on, I know you like to go out in Brooklyn since you're there. Now, it's time for you to visit _my_ Manhattan."

"Okay, okay,” Steve raised his arms meaning he surrendered, a smile gracing his lips. “I need some fresh air, I guess."

As he agreed happily, you dragged him outside his apartment to the parking lot. He raised an eyebrow and you wiggled yours as he cast a glance at your vehicle.

"We will take my car,” you turned to him with an apologizing smile. “I must warn you, a rumor says I'm a terrible driver."

****

   _Park Avenue_ _, NYC_

Walking through the streets; you showed Steve every new building since he had been in Arctic. You also introduced the super soldier to every thing that could be interesting to him in the city. He was looking everywhere like a tourist, yet he wasn't that lost around these avenues and this new technology, he even said it was strangely kind of familiar, but he liked it.

"Here is where we make the best shawarmas in town,” you pointed at the restaurant across the street and the soldier was carefully listening to you. “Some of my colleagues and I used to eat there... Strange when I know I didn't bring my closest friends too."

"Do you know where I can do some training?" He asked, looking around him.

"Oh, yeah, there is a vintage gymnasium on the 5th Avenue behind the Empire State. You'll see they didn't change anything from how it was way back then."

"Thanks,” Steve smiled gently, walking down the pavements with you.

“There are more smiles everyday, you’re getting better, Rogers,” you giggled as he looked away, trying to hide the curve. "Here's a nice coffee shop near the MetLife,” you pointed at the building next to you and he looked up to it. "The construction dates back to the sixties."

"You seem to know everything about New York,” he analyzed.

"Growing up between Manhattan and Malibu helps a lot I guess, but now I live in D.C. because of the work,” you explained as you walked to the café and sat at the terrace.

"What do you want to order?" Steve interrogated.

"Let’s take a break from the spy diet. I go for a coffee and a chocolate chunk muffin, please."

"Ok, I'll get them;” he left a few minutes before he came back with what you wanted.

While you thanked him, the soldier put your orders on the table and sat in front of you and the MetLife Building with Stark Tower looking over it. As you swallowed the bites of sweet pastry, you chitchatted with him, sharing more moments you lived in the city and some funnier with your brother, with whom you almost owned the entire avenue.

Steve finally took the last sip of his hot drink, pulling a pen and a notebook out from his pocket and memorized every detail of the buildings had to offer behind you as he began transcribing them on the paper.

"I’ve heard a lot about your talent,” you confessed after awhile, admiring his gift. “Peggy was right, you are very talented."

“She told you?” He smiled up at you, “it's been a while and it made me relax during the war."

You mimicked, eating your muffin and a pleasant silent floated around you for a moment as you stared at him drawing. Very talented was an understatement. He was _incredibly_ talented.

"It's a cool place for a date, right?" You both turned to see a blonde waitress talking to you.

"Ma'am?" Steve looked up at her confused and you discretely gestured she was talking about you and him. "Oh, no. We are friends." He said and you could see a new twinkle in the waitress’ eyes. The blonde woman couldn’t help but smile at his words.

"Waiting on the big buy instead?" She interrogated almost subjugated by the soldier.

"Who?" He was clearly lost at that moment, but you knew who she was talking about.

"Iron Man,” she pointed at the Stark Tower behind your back. “A lot of people wait here just to see him fly by."

"Right, maybe another time,” you interjected, but both of them weren't paying attention. Just looking at each other. “Oh, boy,” you mumbled and sipped from your hot drink, very amused.

"Table's here as long as you like,” the blonde offered and poured some coffee in Steve’s cup. "Nobody's waiting on it,” she smiled and you arched a brow, holding a laugh. "Plus, we've got free wireless." She finished and left your table. This waitress was clearly flirting with Steve and ignored your presence that became almost awkward.

"Radio?" He interrogated, but the woman just turned, smiling one last time.

"Steve. She was talking about Internet,” you chuckled. "I think she's _very_ interested in you,” you whispered, leaning closer to him and the same famous Stark smirk curled your lips as he quirked an eyebrow, parting his lips.

_**And now I’m playing the matchmaker… Oh, gosh, Phil is right. I’m married to my job.**_

As a response to your analyze, the soldier stared at the waitress- with an unnoticeable smile -one more time, then he closed his notebook and put his pen on the table next to it. However, Steve dropped his gaze from her to your person, looking at you a long moment until he spoke.

"It was your voice,” he affirmed and you coughed, not knowing what he was talking about.

"What do you mean?”

"The voice I heard when I was into the ice."

"You heard me?" You swallowed; feeling like it was creepy to have done that.

“Yes and someone held my hand. It was you, right?"

"Oh, shit. I felt like holding your hand and talking to you was like a support. Wow, now that sounds way too crazy,” you laughed, trying to hide your surprising embarrassment.

“No, no,” he shook his head. “It was very reassuring, I can't remember what you said, but now, I can recognize your voice.” The Captain acknowledged and you smiled at each other. "Thank you, Y/N, for being here even though I'm not very funny or warm lately."

"It’s ok, Steve. Remember when you need me, just call HQ and I'll be-" you didn’t have time to finish as your phone vibrated inside your pocket. You took it to read a text message from Phil with another mission for you. The first since you had met Steve. "Sorry, but I gotta go, duty calls in Canada. Do you want me to take you back home?"

"No, thanks, I'll stay there and hit the gym later,” he chuckled and a tiny mischievous smirk drew on his face. "By the way, that legend about your driving is real."

“Funny,” you rolled your eyes with a smile and left the chair, ready to leave while an old man, having lunch behind Steve turned to him.

"Ask for her number, you moron,” the man suggested and the soldier turned to stare at you.

"I'd rather get yours, sir,” you quipped, looking at the elder with a smirk

"Anytime, doll." As the old man winked, you giggled and he got back to his friends.

"Thanks for the coffee, Steve. Bye, see you soon!” You waved, walking to your car.

"You’re welcome!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy new year everyone! Let's hope 2017 will be better than 2016 and we shall stay positive no matter what.  
> Next chapter is coming up next Wednesday... Avengers Assemble!


	38. The Faster You Rise - (Avengers x Reader) 1/9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rating: Teens and Up  
> Summary: Reader is interrupted in the middle of a mission and she has to quit everything to try to save her best friend, Clint and protect S.H.I.E.L.D. threatened by Loki.  
> Words Count: 2.2k  
> Warning: Light swearing at the beginning.

   _May 2012 - Calgary, Alberta, Canada_

“Crap!” You cursed as the woman you’d followed the whole evening at a gala left without you could do anything, unless you would’ve had jeopardized an entire week of hard work.

S.H.I.E.L.D. had sent you to get your hands on the plans of a dangerous weapon the woman had stolen from the agency the month prior. Your mission was simple: get the papers and take off without being seen. It had been a week that you’d followed her every move and since you had left Steve on his own, after you had practically spent two entire months with him.

In a blink of an eye, you removed your high heels and ran inside the ballroom, pushing the guests to make your way outside the building where she’d been last seen. As you walked down the street, you looked everywhere, hoping she was still near around you.

You brushed a finger on your earpiece discreetly, “Trip, I lost eyes on the target.”

 _‘She’s heading to the building next to yours,’_ Agent Triplett informed and you sneaked inside the location he’d indicated. _‘Target is about entering her apartment.’_

As the woman opened the door of her flat, you rushed to hide in a dark spot of the corridor. She locked behind her, walking inside and you waited a long minute before you lifted your gown, taking a lock picking kit kept in your garter.

You worked on the lock quickly and the easiest part was over. You opened the door, getting in and heard the shower accompanied by some music on the other side of the apartment. You put your high heels with your clutch bag on the carpet at the entrance and walked slowly to the fireplace where hung above a painting and a wall safe hidden behind.

You took down the frame and tapped the code you had gotten thanks to a day of skate out. The door of the wall safe opened, allowing you to take the two plans, you replaced the blue papers with fake ones. You eventually whispered to your teammate to bring back the jet above the building in the next minute.

As you were about to leave, your phone vibrated inside your clutch bag and you crawled to the device, picking it up and you put back on your high heels.

“Agent Stark,” you muttered annoyingly and you mentally cursed the person interrupting you in such crucial and delicate moment.

 _‘We need you to come in,’_ Hill commanded, and her tone told something was wrong.

“I have _better_ things to do for the moment,” you whispered, looking around. “I’m working.”

 _‘This is more important. Stark, Barton's been compromised.’_ She blurted out and you froze, swallowing and trying to process what was happening. This couldn’t be possible, you thought.

“Wait a minute,” you closed the door of the apartment without any noises. “Where is he now?” You asked seriously, going into the corridor as you didn’t let the concern or crazy theories take over your mind.

 _‘We don't know,’_ Hill announced and you clenched your jaw.

“What happened?” You urged for more answers, climbing up the ladder to the roof and you opened the trapdoor.

 _‘Our research facility in New York has blown up after an attack led by Loki, the same who has brought the Destructor on earth last year.’_ She explained and you furrowed your brows, focused on every word she spoke. _‘He stole the Tesseract and used some kind of magic to comprise Barton and some other agents, including Dr Selvig.’_

“The Asgardian used magic…?” Your skepticism only increased and Hill sighed, saying he was carrying a magical scepter with him during the attack.

‘ _They fled thirty minutes ago, this mission is level 7. The Avenger Initiative has been engaged.’_

“I’m flying to Brooklyn right now,” you concluded, looking up to the sky and she told you not to. “I’m Rogers’ support here. Fury assigned me to get him if _such thing_ could happen.”

 _‘I’m the one getting you right now. You’re an Avenger,’_ she argued and you tapped your foot on the ground, giving up. _‘You’ll pick the Captain up with Coulson on your way to the Helicarrier. Your stuff is already there with the debriefing package. No need to drop by your apartment,’_ she ordered and you agreed, hanging up your phone as you saw the Quinjet approaching the rooftop.

“Avengers assemble…?”

*****************************************

   _The morning, a few hours later - the Quinjet, New York_

You stood near the cockpit as you checked every screen around, searching for any trace of Clint since he had been ‘brainwashed’ by the new enemy, Loki. Your mind was so focused on finding your best friend that you hadn’t noticed your mentor arriving in the jet and he stayed next to you, concerned about your tired figure, typing on a keyboard quickly.

“Y/N,” Phil put a hand on your shoulder and you tensed, yelping a bit. Internally happy to hear a reassuring voice, you turned to him and hugged as a greeting.

“Is Tony coming?” You asked, hoping your brother would help as you knew Fury had sent Coulson to bring him back in the ambiguous S.H.I.E.L.D. project.

“I went to his penthouse at the Stark Tower last night, but you know him… he will show up randomly,” he smiled and you looked at his pocket, seeing the edges of a card as an occasion of lightening the mood came up to you.

“You begged Fury to be part of this trip, didn’t you?” You inquired, quirking a brow.

“I didn’t, I’m level 9. I can do whatever I want.”

“Yeah, whatever,” you smiled lightly. “Have anything on Clint, yet?”

“Nothing, maybe-” he stopped as your head rose, looking at Steve walking up to you.

“Hi, Cap,” you shook his hand and turned, looking at your stunned mentor. “Steve, here’s Agent Phil Coulson, and Phil, here’s Captain Rogers.”

“It- It’s an honor, sir,” Coulson stammered, a beam curling his lips and the super soldier held out his hand firmly, giving you a puzzled glance.

“Pleasure is mine, Y/N is always talking about you,” Steve responded warmly and you tried to hide a welcomed light laugh as Phil parted his lips, looking at you with pride.

“It’s been a hell of a week, huh,” you turned your head to the super soldier after your superior had eventually finished shaking his hand awkwardly.

“Are you okay? I heard about Agent Barton,” he asked and you immediately erased every bit of negative feelings contorting your features, wearing your best fake smile.

“Yeah, but I know someone else _surely_ more upset.” You could only think of how Natasha was feeling at this moment. She was probably blaming everyone, but she was stronger and she had more experience in tough missions. She knew she could save her best friend.

As you had started flying towards the Helicarrier waiting for your arrival, where you had the best place to go from in case of urgent intervention, you sat next to Steve, watching Dr Banner’s video footage through S.H.I.E.L.D.’s glass-screen.

You knew about ‘The Hulk’ incident since the dramatic episode in Harlem with Blonsky aka ‘Abomination’, but seeing these images again had you feeling quite uncomfortable.

“So, this Dr. Banner was trying to replicate the serum that was used on me?” Steve questioned, looking at you and you confirmed.

“A lot of people were, including my father. Unfortunately, it didn’t turn well.”

“You were the world's first superhero,” Phil added, standing in front of you. “Banner thought gamma radiation might hold the key to unlocking Erskine's original formula.”

“Didn't really go his way, did it?” The first avenger asked, already knowing the answer.

“Not so much. When he's got that thing, though, guy's like a Stephen Hawking,” Coulson answered and the Captain looked at him in confusion as you felt the urge to explain.

“He’s like a very smart person,” you clarified and a silence had put an end to the conversation.

“I gotta say, it's an honor to meet you… officially,” your mentor smiled proudly, containing his fanboy feelings. “I sort of met you. I mean, I watched you while you were sleeping.”

Steve looked at Phil in amusement and you tipped your head back, avoiding embarrassing the man who was like your father in front of his childhood hero.

“I mean, I was... I was present while you were unconscious from the ice.”

“Come on, Phil. You can get your cards signed,” you cheered next to the super soldier, who turned to you, waiting for an explanation and Coulson sent you a friendly glare.

They both moved near the cockpit, putting their hands on it as Phil continued his awkward speech. He looked like a little boy in a candy shop, you couldn’t deny the fact it was adorable. It might’ve had seemed awkward and creepy, but adorable.

“You know, it's really, it's just a... just a huge honor to have you on board.”

“Well, I hope I'm the man for the job.”

“Oh, you are. Absolutely.” Phil claimed and this time you buried your face in your hands to hide your laugh. “Uh...we've made some modifications to the uniform. I had a little design input.”

“Oh, no, poor Stevie. We have to expect the worst, now,” you mumbled, sinking in your seat.

“The uniform? Aren't the stars and stripes a little... old fashioned?”

“Everything that's happening, the things that are about to come to light, people might just need a little old fashioned.”

*****************************************

   _One hour later - S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Helicarrier, Classified_

As the Quinjet had landed on the high-tech flying aircraft carrier and opened its ramp, you stepped out of the jet behind Phil and Steve. You turned your head to your left and saw Natasha arriving, her eyes showing how tired she was.

“Hi, Nat,” you waved, smiling and she mimicked, yet you knew she was behind her spy face.

“Agent Romanoff,” Coulson introduced her to Steve. “Captain Rogers.”

“Ma’am.”

“Hi,” the redhead had a warm tone and then looked at Phil. “They need you on the bridge. They are starting a face trace.”

“See you there.” As soon as your mentor had left, you turned back to Nat and the Captain.

“There was quite the buzz around here, finding you in the ice.” The ex assassin spoke up as you walked towards the railing. “I thought Coulson was gonna swoon. Did he ask you to sign his Captain America trading cards yet?”

“No, he didn’t,” you answered. “He was too occupied trying not to break out next to Steve.”

“Trading cards?” The super soldier frowned.

“They're vintage, he's very proud.”

“He’s searched them all around the world,” you finished, chuckling. “One day, I had to stay twelve hours with him, in a truck- stalking a collector to buy one… I don’t have a thing for old men, but I can understand in this case,” you flashed Steve with a wink, who coughed instantly.

Natasha kept speaking about Phil’s little collection until you spotted _the_ Doctor Bruce Banner lost around so many engineers as his steps were directed towards you.

“Dr. Banner,” Steve walked up to him and held out his hand.

“Oh, yeah. Hi. They told me you'd be coming.” The scientist shook his hand and he turned to you with a shy smile.

“Doctor, it’s such an honor to meet you,” you mimicked the super soldier’s first gesture with a beam, containing an obvious excitement. “My brother is a fan of your work.”

“You must be Agent Y/N Stark, then,” the doctor guessed and you confirmed, “I’m also looking forward to work with the ex CEO of Stark Industries.”

“Word is you can find the cube.” Steve got back attention to the mission breaking a silence.

“Is that the only word on me?” Banner asked.

“Only word I care about,” the Captain acknowledged and they both stared at the carrier as you stepped aside to join your best friend, watching the men thoughtfully.

"Must be strange for you, all of this.” After an awkward silence, the scientist wondered, gesturing to the Helicarrier.

“Well, this is actually kind of familiar.” The super soldier claimed, looking around and Natasha’s green eyes never left their bodies as she spoke to your direction.

“I guess some people are very lucky,” you nudged her side to have more details and she raised a brow playfully. “You didn’t tell me Captain Rogers was that handsome in real life.”

“Why would I tell you?” You grinned, wiggling your eyebrows. “I could tell you the same about Banner, he’s very cute.” You got better as you had managed to make her smile; only the purpose of this mission was your one priority.

“Gentlemen, you may wanna step inside in a minute,” Natasha warned as the two men were about to walk away. “It's gonna get a little hard to breath.”

She finished and the Helicarrier's deck started shaking as it prepared to fly off your next destination.

“Is this is a submarine?”

"It's so much funnier than that,” you smirked, standing next to the scientist.

“Really, they wanted me in a submerged pressurized metal container?” Banner joked and they both moved closer to the edge of the flying aircraft, watching in awe as it started to lift into the air.

“Oh, no. This is much worse!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, guys!  
> I hope you're doing well, so today I'm finally posting the first part of The Avengers story arc. I'm excited for you to read this because I've had so much fun writing it. Especially the way you tease Coulson or Steve! XD  
> This is a quite long introduction to the plot, but with what's coming next, I couldn't make it shorter.  
> I hope you enoyed, anyway xx


	39. The Faster You Rise - (Avengers x Reader) 2/9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rating: Teens and Up  
> Summary: Reader is sent to Germany with Steve and Natasha to arrest Loki.  
> Words Count: 2.2k  
> Warnings: Violence, mentions of blood and light angst [?].  
> Author's Note: Some of the lines at the end of the chapter come from an episode of AoS season 3. This dialogue was so powerful and related to this story that I needed to add it, sorry if this bothers you.

  


   _The Bridge,_ _Helicarrier, Classified_

After quickly showing Steve and Banner around the helicarrier with Natasha, you walked onto the bridge of the ship where Fury had requested your presence. You watched- arms crossed, everyone rushing around you as the flying aircraft took off, protected by the new retro reflection panels.

“Gentlemen,” the director greeted your new teammates. “Doctor, thank you for coming,” Fury went to Dr. Banner, shaking his hand and Steve gave him what looked like ten dollars before taking a closer look around him as Hill followed with her gaze.

“Thanks for asking nicely,” Banner looked down and you smiled at him. “So, uh... how long am I staying?”

“Once we get our hands on the Tesseract, you're in the clear.”

“Where are you with that?” The scientist asked and Fury pointed at Phil for more explanations on your ongoing mission.

“We're sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet. Cell phones, laptops. If it's connected to a satellite, it's eyes and ears for us.”

Coulson responded and a thin smile formed on your face as Natasha tapped the computer screen, opening a tab with Clint’s S.H.I.E.L.D. records. She looked at the archer a single second and gathered her strength to speak before Steve came to you with a small smile.

“That's still not gonna find them in time,” Nat remarked as she stood.

“She’s right, sir, we have to narrow the field,” you agreed.

“How many spectrometers do you have access to?” Banner questioned.

“How many are there?” Fury asked.

“Call every lab you know, tell them to put the spectrometers on the roof and calibrate them for gamma rays. I'll rough out a tracking algorithm based on cluster recognition. At least we could rule out a few places.” The doctor ordered as he took off his jacket. “Do you have somewhere for me to work?”

“Agent Romanoff, would you show Dr. Banner to his laboratory, please.”

“You're gonna love it, Doc. We got all the toys,” Natasha said, leading him out of the bridge and they both left to the laboratories.

“What just happened?” The super soldier interrogated, utterly lost by the scientific terms.

“Don’t look at me like that, I thought we defrosted your brain with the whole package,” you shrugged as he wore his best non-humorous face. “The gamma science isn’t really my thing, I prefer classic engineering.”

“Like father, like daughter.”

“Well, I do my best,” you smiled lightly and Steve put his jacket on a chair. “How do you find the ship?”

“Reminds me of some things Howard designed on papers back in the days.” He looked around him as he claimed, rolling the sleeves of his shirt up and you turned around, seeing a certain close colleague approaching you.

“Coulson’s heading our way. Be prepared for the cards,” you murmured in his ear.

Once your mentor had settled between you and Steve, they stood silently side by side as they watched the dozens of agents working on the computers. You glanced at the men back and forth until you found the courage for them to initiate another nice conversation.

“Phil, don’t you have something to say?” You muttered under your coughs, nudging his side and he remained professional, speaking to the Captain without leaving the sight.

“I was going to ask if you could sign my cards.” He asked as he tried to sound normal. “I mean, if it's not too much trouble.”

“No, no. It's fine.”

“It's a vintage set. It took me a couple of years to collect them all.”

“A couple of years? You’ve gotta be kidding me,” you raised an eyebrow and Phil turned to you in annoyance, carrying on.

“Near mint, slight foxing around the edges, but-”

“We got a hit!” Jasper Sitwell turned to the command area where Fury was standing. “Sixty-seven percent match. Wait… cross match, seventy-nine percent.”

“Location?” Phil interrogated, walking up to him and you immediately straightened up, joining the boss on his spot.

“Stuttgart, Germany. 28, Königstrasse. He's not exactly hiding.”

“Captain, you're up.” Fury ordered and then turned to you. “Stark, you’re part of the trip.”

“I’ll show you where your suit is.” You told Steve as you walked fast to the armory. Once you had passed the retinal scan, the door opened and you let him go inside.

You ran to your room and quickly put on your fitted leather suit with your gear, sliding your favorite knives inside your belt, as well as your gun. You left to the stairs, leading to the runway where the Captain was waiting for you and Natasha.

Seeing you and your best friend, ready to fight, Steve nodded his head towards you as he tightened his grip on the shield and led the way to the Quinjet.

“Note to self. Thank Phil for the back of this suit.”

*****************************************

   _A few minutes later - Stuttgart, Germany_

Standing on one knee on the roof of a building, you looked around the perimeter with the help of your night binoculars while Natasha and Steve stayed in the Quinjet, ready to attack the Asgardian Prince, who was in a museum where a gala was held.

Loki was nowhere you could see and you began to question yourself about the goal of his presence at this event. There was obviously something he needed there.

“Natasha, is there a special guest to this party?” You asked, pressing your earpiece and you waited as she checked S.H.I.E.L.D.’s database.

_‘The host is Dr Heinrich Schäfer, a specialist in nuclear science. His institute happens to be across the street you are.’_

“Wait a minute, isn’t that the guy you and I had to escort out of the U.S. three years ago?”

_‘Uh, no… this mission was with Agent 13, why are you asking this?’_

“When my brother built the firsts Iron Man suits, he searched for a stabilizer for the arc reactor, so I told him about the ‘Iridium’, but this was too risky. We didn’t know how much power we were dealing with, the amount of energy surging from this reactor is phenomenal. It could blow up a whole building in a simple second.”

You explained and when nobody seemed to understand, you carried on. “What I’m saying _is_ , nobody can control the cube, so Loki needs a _natural_ chemical element like anti-protons to stabilize this _natural_ source of power and hold the portal he first came through open for as long as he wants. The Iridium is the perfect choice and the only one having this on earth is Dr. Heinrich Schäfer.”

 _‘And yet you say Gamma science isn’t your thing,’_ Steve voice echoed and your eyes fell backwards in annoyance.

“Oh, for God’s sake!” You rubbed your temples, rising on your feet and thinking for a long moment. “Right, sometimes you just gotta do the work yourself. To be clear, I think I have an idea what Loki’s probably exactly doing here.”

 _‘Y/N, whatever you do. Do not engage. These are deductions only,’_ Natasha advised.

“What if I’m right? I’m always right and sometimes it’s tiring, I have to admit,” you argued.

 _‘This could be a trap, Agent.’_ The super soldier finished. _‘We already have specific orders.’_

“Captain, you’ll learn I have a slight problem with following them,” you finished, shutting off the communications. Your mind commanding your ice shape on, you took off the building and flew towards the Schäfer Sicherheitsdienst one with a clear determination in your eyes.

Landing on the ground at the main entrance, two dead bodies of the security guard staff welcomed you. You took a closer look at their wounds and concluded they had been both killed by arrows you knew.

“Clint,” you whispered and brushed a finger onto your earpiece. “Barton was here, do you copy?” You waited for an answer, but nothing was to hear. “Natasha? Do you copy?”

You removed the device from your ear, only the contact with the air triggered a very small implosion that you recognized as your own work. Clint and his mercenary team had cut out the communications with an E.M.P. they had stolen from S.H.I.E.L.D.

“Dammit!” You cursed lightly and walked through the scientific warehouse, noticing more bodies with arrows driven straight into their hearts.

Without being noticed, you went further up and looked around for any threat. At the end of a hallway, the door of a vault was wide opened and you rushed to it. You sneaked inside, carrying your weapons and spotted Clint, grabbing a transparent tube with the Iridium inside.

“Barton!” You pointed your gun at him, with a knife in the other hand and he turned to you.

“Stark.” He smirked and took his own blade, placing the tube back in its box. His eyes shone with fervent blue and the bags under them were an indication of the state he was in.

"This isn't you, Clint." You slowly lowered your hands, trying the soft way and you stopped to walk as he did the same, staying away from you.

"I know this is hard for you to hear, but this is me." He said like he was under a drug. He sounded like a person under the orders of a guru and you tried hard to keep your feelings out of your mind because you knew they would cloud your judgment, but it was already.

"That thing is a parasite. It’s messing with your head."

"That's what S.H.I.E.L.D.'s been doing. Look at us, Y/N! We're soldiers for S.H.I.E.L.D.!"

“We are _not_ soldiers!” You clenched your fingers around your weapons, calming down. "That team cares about you. _I_ care about you. Natasha, most of all here, cares about you."

"So, what, that makes us friends?" The archer guessed while he slightly shook his head.

"Friends. Partners in crime... Family."

"You are so naïve,” Clint chuckled. “What Loki showed me is so beautiful. I feel the reality.”

"Now, what you're feeling it's not real,” you tried to reason with him. “You can fight this! Fight Loki, not us!"

"It's the way the world was meant to be,” he breathed, taking back the Iridium and you shook your head with a sad smile as you saw the end of this issue coming up to you.

"Not my world," you pointed your weapons towards him and Clint walked towards the exit, knowing you would never hurt your best friend, your brother.

He was right. You couldn’t kill him, but you could at least stop him. Before he could flee, you shot multiple bullets to the door’s tech system and it began to close before him.

“Looks like you’re trapped!” You grinned and his eyes showed a rare anger, almost hatred as he turned on his heels, approaching you fast.

"You should've stayed away!" He punched your jaw and gave you another hit to the side of your face, tightening his fists as you took a few steps back.

"I'm not gonna fight you, Clint,” you dropped your gun and knife, swallowing the pain and you faced him, ready to die if it was the right thing to do.

"I wanted you to be part of this. We could've had a connection. That was real.” The archer punched hard your mouth and you spat some blood, falling on one knee.

"Clint, look at you. You don't have to do this,” you breathed with your hands on your thighs and he hit you again.

"Come on! Fight back!”  He kicked your stomach, leaving you breathless for a few seconds and you fell to the floor.

"I'm willing to die if it saves you,” you exhaled harshly and he straddled you, hitting your face a quick moment. "Remember Laura. Cooper. Lila. What will they think about you, now? Huh?" You gasped as you interlaced your fingers around his wrist. “Come on! Kill me!"

At that moment, you knew these words meant something for him as Clint- your best friend stopped moving and looked around him. He released his arm from your grip and shot an explosive arrow that blown up the vault door, leaving with his team waiting outside the building while you were in blood in the middle of the room.

You touched your lips and red liquid was still dripping from the cut provoked by his punches, your under eye was hurting like it never did. Feeling the pain invading your body, you took back your weapons and weakly, but quickly left the vault, dragging your feet outside the Schäfer Institute.

“Join S.H.I.E.L.D., they said. We are the good guys, they said. It will be fun, they said.” You breathed out and eventually flew back over the museum. You landed right next to the stairs, from where you saw Steve fighting Loki.

“Kneel!”

“Not today!” The super soldier flipped and knocked Loki out with his leg.

“This guy’s everywhere,” you commented the fight as you walked over them with your knives made of vibranium in hands. “Loki. Get down!”

“Y/N?” Steve called when he saw your wounds.

“Is this Agent Y/N Stark, the woman who thinks killing people will ease the pain of loss inside her heart?” Loki smiled brightly while he turned his head to you.

“It’s not the day to mess with me, Princess.”

Suddenly, Shoot to Thrill by AC/DC began to play and a smirk formed on your cut lips. Tony in his Iron Man suit flew over and blasted Loki right back.

“Make your move, Reindeer Games.” Your brother challenged and Loki put up his hands, surrendering as he dematerialized his green-golden armor. “Good move.”

“Mr. Stark.” Steve nodded in greeting.

“Captain.” The billionaire responded and mimicked the tone.

“Tony,” you sat down as you caught your breath, still aiming at Loki.

“Sis,” he turned his head to you. “Oh, Lordy, what happened to your beautiful face?”


	40. The Faster You Rise - (Avengers x Reader) 3/9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rating: Teens and Up  
> Summary: Reader and the rest of the team bring Loki to the Helicarrier when a blonde man makes a remarked appearance.  
> Words Count: 2.2k  
> Warnings: Light swearing.

    _A few minutes later - inside the Quinjet_

Back inside the jet, Loki was subdued on his seat, weirdly silent as he looked straight in front of him, not saying a word since you had [so easily] arrested him. Standing near the cockpit between the super soldier and your brother, you watched the Asgardian with suspicion while trying to reassure Tony, claiming you felt better already.

“Stark is right, you should see the nurse when we get back,” Steve advised as he stared at your bruised face and he tilted your head up, his fingers carefully holding your chin. “I told you not to engage. Who was there?”

“Barton. You know he is my friend, I tried to do something. Anything to save him,” you hissed, closing your eyes as he brushed his thumb over your cheekbone, nodding slowly.

“If you had followed the orders, you wouldn’t be in such state,” he argued, the soldier he was almost scolding and you removed his hand from your skin.

“I’d do anything to save my brother, wouldn’t you?” You frowned as a stern expression took place on his face. “I’m okay, Steve,” you soothed and as he eventually smiled as a response, you walked over Loki and analyzed his stance, utterly comfortable. “What happened to our great, mighty King… became dumb?”

“Poor lost creature. We walk in the same path, Agent Stark.” Loki smirked up at you, trying to veil your mind and you furrowed your brows, puzzled.

“Seems like I haven’t turned into a merciless monster with a goat suit yet.” You mocked and turned to Tony, who was chilling like nothing had happened. “What did you take so long? Phil told me he called you last night.”

“First, he broke into my penthouse inside the tower and ruined my date with Pepper. And second, you know I’m not the one to follow. I love having my own personality.”

“The guy says a man from another planet stole something dad worked on during his whole life, and you just come twenty-four hours later like it’s no big deal. What did you expect?”

“Something more thrilling,” he guessed, rubbing his chin dramatically and you rolled your eyes, muttering he was a real diva and you asked the pilot to move from your seat.

 _‘Zephyr to Widow and Phoenix,’_ Fury’s voice sounded in your earpiece. _‘News on mission?’_

“We have Loki handcuffed in the back of the jet,” Natasha responded.

_‘Is he saying anything?’_

“Not a word,” she finished, ignoring the words the Asgardian had told you.

 _‘Just get him here. We’ll low on time.’_ The boss ordered and Nat cut the communication.

“I don't like it,” Steve acknowledged, turning his head to Tony.

“What, rock of Ages giving up so easily?”

“I don't remember it being that easy. This guy packs a wallop.”

“Still, you were pretty spry, for an older fellow. What's your thing? Pilates?” Tony interrogated and you groaned loudly, signifying your annoyance. "I'm just saying what everyone's been thinking about his great shape for a senior citizen."

“What?” Steve asked.

“It's like calisthenics. You might have missed a couple things, you know, doing time as a Capsicle.” Tony snorted and the super soldier sent him a glare.

“Fury didn't tell me he was calling you in,” he turned his head to you. “Even your sister.”

"Yeah, there's a lot of things Fury doesn't tell you.”

“Welcome to our weird world, boys,” you mumbled and Natasha smiled. “We call this an intelligence agency.” Your attempt at sarcasm was quickly interrupted as thunder and lightning shook the jet unexpectedly.

“Where's this coming from?” Natasha asked and turned her head to you as Steve looked over at a worried looking Loki.

“What's the matter? Scared of a little lightning?”

“I'm not overly fond of what follows,” the Prince of Mischief confessed and you knew what he’d meant by those simple words, yet you immediately regretted your bright smile because of the pain it brought.

The Quinjet shook again as something hit the roof accompanied by another rumbling of thunder and lighting. Deciding to check what caused the problems yourselves, you pushed a button above you, opening the ramp and Tony and Steve put their helmets back on in a hurry.

“What are you doing?” The super soldier yelled as the billionaire walked up to leave.

Yet, he couldn’t hear an answer as- out of nowhere, a tall and [very handsome] long haired blonde man suited in blue with a red cape came in and threw a hammer at your brother, who was instantly thrown away with Steve. The stranger grabbed Loki’s throat, both flying off the jet.

“Now, there's that guy,” Tony analyzed while getting up.

“Another Asgardian?” Natasha asked and you nodded in a hurry, recognizing the man you had seen many times in S.H.I.E.L.D.’s video archives.

“Think the guy's a friendly?” Steve turned to you.

“That’s Thor!” You almost yelled. “He must be with us, last year he worked with S.H.I.E.L.D.”

Tony turned slightly, getting ready to chase after the Asgardians. “Doesn't matter. If he frees Loki or kills him, the Tesseract's lost.”

“Listen to me, for one time in your damn life!” You exclaimed and your brother stopped walking. “This guy is with us!”

“Stark, we need a plan of attack!”

“I have a plan. Attack.” Tony jumped off the jet and followed the Princes to a forest.

“I'd sit this one out, Cap.” Natasha turned her head to him as she touched the buttons upon her and Steve grabbed a parachute next to him.

“I don't see how I can,” the Captain closed it around him.

“These guys come from legends; they're basically ‘gods’.”

“There's only one God, ma'am, and I'm pretty sure he doesn't dress like that.” Steve clarified and jumped out of the jet, following the billionaire chasing after Thor and Loki.

“Dammit!” You grunted and tapped to close the ramp. “We should join them,” you paused, turning the Quinjet to have a better view of what was happening. “I’m going to-”

“We stay here and let them do the job,” Nat interrupted in a firm tone, knowing how tensed you both were at this point. “Now, will you tell me what happened with Clint back there?”

*****************************************

_An hour later - inside the Helicarrier’s bridge, debrief area_

_'In case it's unclear, you try to escape; you so much as scratch that glass.’_ Fury began threatening, pressing a button which opened up a huge hole in the middle of the cell. _‘Thirty thousand feet, straight down in a steel trap. You get how that works?’_ He pointed at Loki, _‘Ant,’_ and he pointed at the button which would drop the enemy into the steel trap. _‘Boot.’_

Loki laughed, _'it's an impressive cage. Not built, I think, for me.'_

_'Built for something a lot stronger than you.’_

_'Oh, I've heard.'_ The Prince looked into the camera through which Banner and all of you were watching the interrogation on the monitors. _‘The mindless beast, makes play to be the man. How desperate are you? You call on these lost creatures to defend you.’_

 _'How desperate am I?’_ Fury exclaimed. _‘You threaten my world with war. You steal a force you can't hope to control. You talk about peace and you kill ‘cause it's fun. You have made me very desperate. You might not be glad that you did.’_

_'Ooh. It burns you to come so close. To have the Tesseract, to have power, unlimited power. And for what? A warm light for all mankind to share, and then to be reminded what real power is.’_

_'Yeah, well, you let me know if “Real Power” wants a magazine or something.’_ Fury finished, walking off and leaving Loki in his glass cell.

The brunette smirked up at the camera until the monitor turned off. Your faces distorted in astonishment, you all looked at the glass table a quick moment in a deafening silence before Banner tried to be humorous.

"He really grows on you, doesn't he?"

“Loki's gonna drag this out. So, Thor, what's his play?” Steve asked, looking over Thor and the Prince who seemed very torn apart responded.

“He has an army called the Chitauri, that none of Asgard nor any world know. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the earth. Return, I suspect, for the Tesseract.”

“An army. From outer space,” the super soldier glanced at Natasha- not even shocked -then back to the Asgardian.

“So, he's building another portal. That's what he needs Erik Selvig for,” Banner observed.

“Selvig?”

“He's an astrophysicist.”

“He's a friend,” Thor claimed.

“Loki has him under some kind of spell, along with one of ours.” Natasha was upset, but how could she not? She always told you how much Clint’s friendship meant everything to her.

“They stole the Iridium inside Schäfer’s lab,” you informed, placing an ice pack under your eye and the blonde Asgardian gave you a half-smile.

“I wanna know why Loki let us take him. He's not leading an army from here.”

“If we could make him speak, maybe we’ll know,” you estimated, turning your head to Steve’s.

“I don't think we should be focusing on Loki. That guy's brain is a bag full of cats, you could smell crazy on him.” Banner tried joking, but nobody reacted well.

“Have care how you speak.” Thor approached the table as a warning. “Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard, and he's my brother.”

“He killed eighty people in two days.” Natasha pointed out.

“He's adopted.”

“That doesn’t justify his actions,” you argued, making eye contact with Thor a moment.

“I think it’s about mechanic,” Banner cut in, trying to ease the growing tension in the briefing room. “Iridium, what did they need the Iridium for?”

“It's a stabilizing agent,” you answered, turning to the doctor as Tony walked in with Phil, putting his own conclusion to what you had started to reveal.

“Means the portal won't collapse on itself, like it did at S.H.I.E.L.D…. No hard feelings. Point Break. You've got a mean swing.” Your brother patted Thor’s arm, then referred back to the Iridium. “Also, it means the portal can open as wide, and stay open as long, as Loki wants.”

“See? Always right.” You glanced at Natasha with a knowing look and a smile, referring to your previous theory.

“Uh, raise the mid-mast, ship the topsails,” the billionaire turned to one of the carrier bridge techs. “That man is playing Galaga! Thought we wouldn't notice, but we did.” He then looked at one of the computer monitors in front of him, covering one eye. “How does Fury even see these?”

“He turns,” Agent Hill answered bluntly.

“Sounds exhausting.” Tony continued as he touched the glass screens around him. “The rest of the raw materials, Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily. Only major component he still needs is a power source. A high energy density, something to kick starts the cube.”

“When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?” Hill interrogated.

“Last night. The packet, Selvig's notes, the Extraction Theory papers. Am I the only one who did the reading?”

“How new of you,” you teased. “Let me enjoy this moment.”

“Let me enjoy the state _this_ put you in first,” your brother retaliated, yet he was still concerned.

“Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?” Steve asked.

“He got to heat the cube to a hundred and twenty million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier,” the scientist said, immediately getting back to business.

“Unless, Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunneling effect.” Tony put in and walked over Banner with a smile.

“Well, if he could do that he could achieve Heavy Ion Fusion at any reactor on the planet,” the doctor finished.

“Finally, someone who speaks English,” your brother turned to you like it was obvious.

“Is that what just happened?” Steve asked to no one in particular.

“You’ll get used to it, Captain,” you patted his shoulder as Tony shook Banner’s hand.

“It's good to meet you, Dr. Banner. Your work on anti-electron collisions is unparalleled. And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster.”

“Thanks.”

“Dr. Banner is only here to track the cube. I was hoping you might join him,” Fury walked in.

“Let's start with that stick of his. It may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a Hydra weapon,” the super soldier reviewed.

“I don't know about that, but it is powered by the cube,” the director responded. “And I'd like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys.”

“Monkeys? I do not understand,” Thor turned his head to the big boss in confusion.

“I do!” Steve exclaimed earning your chuckle and certainly Tony’s eyes rolling. “I understood that reference.”

“Shall we play, doctor?” The billionaire asked Banner and then turned to you. “Y/N, would you please see the nurse now because this isn’t beautiful.”

“Forgot to bring my whole set of makeup from home, Metal Man,” you winked and stood from the chair. “Agent Coulson?” You called and Phil joined as you began to leave to the infirmary.

“Let's play some,” the scientist showed the way to his labs to your brother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi there,
> 
> A chapter that contains less drama to lighten the mood, I guess. I'm currently rewriting some of the next parts and I will probably add a new chapter actually, focusing on Loki. I want to add more interaction between him and Reader... and basically my pseud says it all. Loki is the man. ;)


	41. The Faster You Rise - (Avengers x Reader) 4/9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rating: Teens and Up  
> Summary: Reader goes to see Loki...  
> Words Count: 2.2k  
> Warning: light swearing.

       _A few hours later - the Helicarrier’s infirmary, Classified_

After you had swallowed a dozen of coffees, you’d taken a well needed shower and finally let a nurse patch you up, stitching up your lower lip. You successfully covered the few bruises on your face with some make up Natasha had given you.

Sitting on a bed of the infirmary and drying your hair with a towel, you smiled lightly as Phil settled by your side whilst looking at your ‘fresh’ face.

"Remember when I first met you in that coffee shop in LA? I thought you were going to poop in your pants," he laughed and you parted your lips. "My first recruit... such a long time ago."

"Don't exaggerate, it’s been only eleven years and I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you. You're the closest thing I have to a father, you know."

"I do,” he smiled, thinking he’d found a way to make you smile. “You really look like a mess,” he quipped and you put the towel next to you, irritated.

“Seriously? I haven’t noticed.”

“Here we go; you use sarcasm to distance people.”

“And yet you’re still here,” you exhaled and shook your head as his eyes widened. “I didn’t mean to sound rude or-”

“Hey, everything will be alright, I promise.” He reassured in a firm whisper, taking you in his arms and you allowed yourself to draw a curl on your lips.

“What would I do without my mentor?”

“You’d be lost,” he chuckled, breaking away. “Will you tell me what’s wrong?”

“I thought I could do something back there, but… but nothing worked, Phil,” you shrugged lightly, playing with the hem of the towel, unable to meet his gaze. “Next time, Natasha will do better… She means more to Clint and she’s stronger.”

“Is there everything?” Coulson wondered, knowing he was one of the two people on earth with whom you felt better after talking truthfully and you eventually decided it was time to talk and stop hiding.

“I try to deal with it, but-” you trailed off, gaining your strength to face him. “I’m just pissed off at everyone, right now! I could burn everything! Yet, it’s _our_ fault if my best friend is nowhere, doing God knows what!”

“We make mistakes, it’s human. I told you we are the best qualified to save him, okay,” he repeated again. “Y/N, trust the system. Always remember what I say, ‘trust the system’.”

“Sure,” you muttered and he inhaled deeply. “Maybe if I could speak to Loki… or twist my knife into his heart, I’d feel better I suppose.”

“There you are,” he smiled and a quick silence settled between you. “It was pretty tense back in the bridge; it looked like you were going to chop off each other’s heads.”

“You noticed I didn’t even talk to Thor when I had the occasion,” you dismissed.

“He’s dating Jane Foster.”

“I already know, why are you telling me this?”

“Just noticing you his relationship status.” Phil’s expression softened, crossing his arms and your eyes narrowed. “What about Captain Rogers… or Banner without the anger issue?”

“Oh, no! Not this again,” you warned, knowing where he was going with this. “You know how much I hate talking about this; I’m upset enough as you can see.”

"Seems like Romanoff is even more pissed,” Fury pointed out as he walked in with Natasha by his sides. “Why is everyone making this mission about themselves?”

"Because it's our fault. All of this," you snapped, not caring about the rules anymore. “If my father hadn’t brought back the Tesseract in the first place, then the Avenger Initiative would’ve remained shut down.”

“This is on me,” Natasha adjusted, crossing her arms. “Barton is my partner and I owe him everything.”

"None of us could prevent what was about to happen! And you both need to get your damn heads straight!" Fury barked in a firm tone, demonstrating his higher rank in the chain. “This mission isn't about Barton."

"Agreed,” the redhead muttered. “This is about _us_ making things right.”

“Then you can make things right by interrogating Loki,” he suggested in a stern order.

“Roger that,” Nat complied, probably leaving to the detention section.

“The sooner we get the cube back, the better,” you thought out loud and turned your head to the director. “What do you want me to do, boss?”

“I’ll call you when we’ll need you, Stark.” Fury said in the same tone than earlier and turned to Phil, who gave you a reassuring smile. “Coulson; I want you to supervise Thor in here.”

You looked at them as they left towards the bridge and stayed alone, thinking about the mission and everything linked to it. If you wanted useful information and clear answers, you knew where to find them and you had to be quick.

Stepping outside the infirmary with a new and clean S.H.I.E.L.D. suit on, you headed towards the detention section, hoping Natasha hadn’t begun her interrogation yet. You wanted to talk to Loki first and maybe play his little game, no matter the hypothetical consequences.

“Natasha!” You called as you saw her passing by a hallway on the lowest level of the aircraft carrier and you climbed down the stairs to join her.

“Yes?” Your best friend stopped, seeing you panting as you’d rushed faster than ever to catch her close to Loki’s detention cell.

“Did you talk to the Asgardian yet?” You breathed out and she shook her head, smiling. “Great! I want to talk to him first if it’s okay. I need to know something and then, you can do as Fury said.”

“He seems tough and very vicious, he could take the advantage. Are you sure, Y/N?” She inquired and you nodded, determined. “He’s all yours, then.”

As soon as she disappeared, you took a deep breath in before stepping into the room. Your light steps taping onto the floor, you watched as Loki stood in his glass cell, his back welcoming you and you stopped close where Fury had threatened him only a few hours ago.

“Why am I not surprised?” The Asgardian finally spoke up, his head turning lightly.

“Such a shame, I love dramatic entrances. It’s what we call a fail.”

“Just like I expected you to be, Agent Stark,” Loki smiled brightly, finally giving you his full attention as he walked to the edge of his cell.

“Oh, no, I’m full of surprises.”

"Sarcastic, huh? Your friend told me about this." The proud grin on his face became obvious as you clenched your muscles, hearing him mentioning Clint. “Agent Romanoff is supposed to be the one appearing as a balm after tortures used on me, what are you supposed to be?”

“The cause of your balm.”

You crossed your arms and Loki laughed, his hands resting behind his back as his feet guided him around the cell. He walked in circles, not leaving your eyes that showed nothing more than what you’d been trained to do with an enemy. No emotions were there.

“Your companions- freaks seen as mighty saviors, defenders… Aren’t you going with them saving the whole world already?” He asked, witnessing you not talking to him. “They are probably waiting for your dramatic entrance.”

"Doesn't it kind of defeat the whole purpose of having your own team if they leave before you arrive?" You titled your head to the side lightly, irony obvious in your smile and he narrowed his blue eyes. "That's funny, I thought with them being my partners and all, that they would just wait for me to save the world."

“To what do I owe the honor of your visit?" Loki questioned, ignoring your comment.

“You know where Barton is and you’re going to tell me.”

“Does it change something if I tell you it is not going to be this easy?”

“I have all the time we need,” you smiled brightly just like him.

“Ooh, playing the tough woman is part of your personality, isn’t it?”

“This and that,” your hands joining together behind your back, your eyes stayed connected to his as his steps stopped at the edge of the cell once again.

Your mind focusing on the space surrounding the enemy, you looked at him as the room temperature changed to an alarming cold for regular people and an enormous trail of ice crystals appeared on the glass in front of Loki. Both your face features remained still as you commanded the ice trapping the railings around the cell and soon cold crystals passed through the air conditioning system.

Your warm breaths created a white smoke every time you exhaled and you could sense him smiling as you walked further up, only to be separated by the glass protecting him.

“Impressive,” the Asgardian admitted, pouting slightly. “Yet, I’m still not surprised.”

“You are hard to please, Loki,” you passed your warm hand, hovering above the glass and the ice your mind had formed disappeared instantly, melting around you.

“Just like you, we’re the same people together.”

“I was wanted, you weren’t.”

“Were you? Were you really wanted?” Loki narrowed his eyes and you knew you’d hit his pride as a noticeable angry wrinkle appeared on his forehead.

“I don’t need to conquer a world or kill people to convince myself I was worthy of my parents’ love. I don’t have an inferiority complex,” you spat, wanting to hurt. “I know that I love my brother and I’d never let him down, no matter what he does. Unlike you.”

“Here it is. Your weakness,” he snapped, clenching his fist. “Love is your weakness.”

“You don’t know me.”

“Tell me, who are you?” Loki opened his arms wide as welcome and took a few steps backwards. “Be my guest, as you can see, I have plenty of time.”

“Sarcastic, huh. I like you,” you joked and he chuckled. “I’m afraid my- oh so human life would seem boring to a Prince of Asgard.”

“No inferiority complex you say.”

“Why are you here, why did you let us take you so easily?”

“It was not, ask the soldier.”

“You didn’t answer,” you said, grinding your teeth together.

“My first question has not found its answer, Stark,” he reminded, raising an eyebrow.

“All right,” you looked behind you and leaned against the railing for support. “S.H.I.E.L.D. spotted me when I was sixteen, knowing about my _abilities_ and then my life changed for the greater good. They send me wherever place in the world, I do the job and that’s it. I go back home until they call me again, saying they need me for another mission. Another shot.”

“Such an uncommon story for a simple human,” Loki confessed, but you knew he had probably heard about all this already. “No man, nobody waiting for you to come back victorious, glorious and safe?”

"I consider myself married to my work," you chuckled, folding your arms above your chest.

“Is that so?” He inquired and your look urged him for more explanation. “You do not court love… or how do you call this on earth? Ah, yes. Barton said you ‘don’t want to let your feelings get in the way of your work’.”

“Is that so much to ask?” You kicked an eyebrow, moving from the railing, "I assume love is a dangerous disadvantage- a game for immature."

"You seem you like playing games."

"You got me, I enjoy challenges," you smiled. "But not when the rules are made for children."

“Of course, taking lives isn’t a game for children at all. How many people have you killed since the age of sixteen?” The Asgardian smirked and you swallowed, careful to not show him. “You stand here, thinking you are better than every person you might have gotten imprisoned or _killed_ , but you are not. You have as much blood in your hands you will never be able to wipe out until your death.”

“You serve murderers and _you_ became one of them. There’s no good in your actions,” he walked up to the edge of the cell with that expression of a monster. “The pain you feel inside will _always_ be here and you only do this to protect the rarest people around you. The only people you care about, the ones you love. At the end, they are all bound to _die_!”

Your strong breath and your eyes betrayed your wish to remain impassive. You felt exposed; a lifetime of work compromised in seconds and the sudden hatred you felt towards this person grew in yours. You had lost the game you had begun by going to see him and he enjoyed every bit of this moment, seeing the walls protecting you collapsing one by one.

“You don’t know me,” you repeated, yet your voice trembled and you internally cursed yourself, both knowing he had hit hard and where it hurt the most.

"This," he gestured at everything around him, referring to S.H.I.E.L.D. "This is your heart and you should never let it rule your head, you lost child."

"Where are Barton and Selvig?" You contoured, feeling vulnerable and remembering Natasha’s words and advice before you came in here.

“You can torture me or _burn_ me, I will not tell you!” Loki exclaimed, his face dangerously close to the glass where his angry blue eyes, full of rage dared you.

“I’m not finished with you,” you muttered, stepping back.

“Indeed. This is not over, Agent Stark!” Loki laughed like a maniac, looking at you as your hand gripped the railing tightly.

You left the detention section, your body remaining straight as well as the thin line forming your lips and you reached the stairs leading to the laboratories.

Wandering through the hallways of the ship like a ghost, your gaze dropped to your feet and the previous scene kept replaying in your head as you tried to find when you’d given the chance to expose your sensitive side.

Your head down, you reached the level and unexpectedly bumped into someone well built.

You almost fell if it wasn’t for two strong arms, catching your body before you could hit the ground. Your gaze went up, your lips ready to apologize when you met his small smile and his worried blue eyes on your face distorted by your anger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so first time writing Loki, I hope it's decent enough because I love him and I'd feel depressed if I've missed a thing. Oh, and I'm not even sorry for this gif. XD


	42. The Faster You Rise - (Avengers x Reader) 5/9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rating: Teens and Up  
> Summary: Reader spend some time with the science bros working on Loki's scepter and finding the Tesseract.  
> Words Count: 1.8k  
> Warnings: Swearing and Steve and Tony being drama queens.

_ _

_The Helicarrier, Classified_

Wandering through the hallways of the ship like a ghost, your gaze dropped to your feet and the previous scene kept replaying in your head as you tried to find when you had given Loki the chance to expose your sensitive side.

Your head down, you reached the level and unexpectedly bumped into someone well built.

You almost fell if it wasn’t for two strong arms, catching your body before you could hit the ground. Your gaze went up, your lips ready to apologize when you met his small smile and his worried blue eyes on your face distorted by the anger.

“My apologies, I did not see you.” Thor apologized and finally let go of you.

“I’m fine… I wasn’t even looking,” you brushed it off and stood still, trying to wear a smile and you held out your hand to him. “We haven’t got formal presentations yet. I’m Y/N Stark, the sister of Metal Man.”

“Thor Odinson,” he introduced, accepting your handshake. “Are you feeling well?”

“I’ve been better,” you smiled slightly. “Weren’t you supposed to be with Coulson?”

“I was, I helped your friend gathering some information your warriors could use against Loki,” he narrowed his eyes as you winced, hearing the name. “I can see you followed your brother’s advice.”

“Finally found some makeup,” you chuckled and felt the moment becoming awkward. “I was actually heading to the laboratories. Thanks… and sorry for this little…”

“There was no harm, I shall see you later.” Thor smiled and he nodded his head before disappearing in a corner of the hallway.

“Y/N, you idiot!” You brought your palm to your face, closing your eyes and you eventually walked to the labs where you would meet Dr. Banner and your brother.

“Need some help gentlemen?” You popped your head inside, waiting for an answer.

“Of course,” Banner accepted, looking up at you.

You stepped inside the room, seeing the scientist and the engineer both working either on scanning Loki’s magical scepter or shifting and solving as many algorithms and equations on S.H.I.E.L.D.’s glass screens.

“There,” Tony smiled, approaching you next to the table where the scepter hung and he surprisingly gave you a peck on the cheek as he placed numerous papers with unsolved equations for you to work on.

“What did you do?” You queried, “I noticed how odd you behaved on the bridge.”

“Don’t believe everything you see me doing… unless, it’s really good things. _And_ if I did something earlier, then let’s face it. It wouldn’t be the worst thing you saw me doing. _But_ to answer your question, I didn’t do anything illegal… yet.”

“So they say,” you quirked a brow and he pouted, going back to his own work.

Your eyes detailing his action again, you finally rolled them and scratched the papers as you worked on the calculations in total silence, helping them the best way you could while your mind seemed to have found a way to forget what Loki had told you.

“Agent Stark?” Banner called and you hummed, too focused for your fingers holding the pencil to leave it. “You are using my tab as support.”

“Oh, shit!” You dropped the pencil and rubbed your temples. “Sorry, you can go on... and please, just call me Y/N,” you smiled and he agreed.

“The gamma readings are definitely consistent with Selvig's reports on the Tesseract,” Bruce observed, scanning the scepter and checking the results on the screen. “But it's gonna take weeks to process.”

“If we bypass their mainframe and direct a reroute to the Homer cluster, we can clock this around six hundred teraflops.” Tony said whilst turning his head to you, who hissed lightly as he mentioned S.H.I.E.L.D.’s mainframe.

“All I packed was a toothbrush,” Bruce pointed out and you chuckled.

“I’m afraid you will stay here until you find the cube, Bruce. Hopefully, we have enough tooth brushes.”

Tony chuckled, walking to both your table of work, “you know, you should come by Stark Tower sometime. Top ten floors, all R&D. You'd love it, it's candy land.”

“Thanks, but the last time I was in New York, I kind of broke... Harlem.”

“Yeah, I saw the archives. Was awesome!” You exclaimed, and the scientist glanced at you with a mix of shyness and sadness in his eyes, making you regret your words.

“Well, I promise a stress free environment. No tension. No surprises.” Tony promised and abruptly poked Bruce’s side with an electrical shock device.

“Ow!” The scientist hissed and the billionaire looked at him closely.

“This man is my brother,” your palm found your face again.

"Hey!” You heard a certain Captain of the U.S. army yelling behind the glass door.

“Nothing?” Tony interrogated, amazed by Bruce’s self control.

“Are you nuts?" Steve questioned rhetorically, walking in the room.

“Jury’s out,” your brother looked back to the scientist. “You really have got a lid on it, haven't you? What's your secret? Mellow jazz? Bongo drums? Huge bag of weed?”

“Huge bag of weed for sure,” you joined, writing on the papers. “Taking the bet.”

“Is everything a joke to you?” The Captain asked Tony sternly.

“Funny things are,” the billionaire replied, pointing the device at Steve and you smiled, thanking him in your mind to do so.

“Threatening the safety of everyone on this ship isn't funny. No offense, Doctor.”

“No, it- it's alright. I wouldn't have come aboard if I couldn't handle pointy things.” Bruce responded and you looked at Steve, your eyes telling him to relax for a minute.

“You're tiptoeing, big man. You need to strut,” Tony advised and grabbed a silver package.

“And you need to focus on the problem, Mr. Stark.”

“You think I'm not? Why did Fury call us and why now? Why not before? What isn't he telling us? I can't do the equation unless I have all the variables.”

“You think Fury's hiding something?” The super soldier asked and you affirmed your brother’s suspicions as his blue eyes shifted to you.

“It wouldn’t be a great surprise, Steve. You already know the character.”

“He's a spy. Captain, he's _the_ spy. His secrets have secrets.” Tony analyzed, eating some blueberries and he pointed at the doctor. “It's bugging him too, isn't it?”

“Uh... I just wanna finish my work here and-” As the guy he was, Bruce didn’t want troubles.

“Y/N?” The billionaire turned to your attention.

“I agree, but that’s how this agency works, Tony. We call, you do the job and that’s it. Nobody can have every secret except Fury, it’s for safety,” you tried to avoid problems even if you partially supported his point of view. “I confess, even after eleven years in this business, I still have some issues getting used to this policy.”

“Doctor?” Steve asked for Bruce’s opinion.

“'A warm light for all mankind to share', Loki's jab at Fury about the cube.”

“I heard it.”

“Well, I think that was meant for you.” Bruce pointed at you and Tony, who offered some blueberries. “Even if Barton didn't tell Loki about the tower, it was still all over the news.”

“The Stark Tower? That big ugly...” Steve smirked lightly, yet it disappeared as Tony and you gave him a look. “…building in New York?”

“It’s powered by an arc reactor, self-sustaining energy source,” you explained him, taking some blueberries from your brother’s hand. “Christmas with more… us.”

“That building will run itself for what, a year?” Bruce asked.

“That's just the prototype. We’re kind of the only name in clean energy right now,” Tony answered and turned to Steve. “That’s what he’s getting at.”

“So, why didn't S.H.I.E.L.D. bring him in- or _even_ Y/N -on the Tesseract project?” Bruce queried, “I mean, what are they doing in the energy business in the first place?”

“Fury kept me away from this project willingly, even when he knows I’m a capable engineer,” you remarked, looking at the super soldier, who obviously tried to not let the suspicions grow in his mind, but you knew this conversation had triggered something.

“I should probably look into that once my decryption programmer finishes breaking into all of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s secure files.” Tony said as he took his phone from his back pocket.

“I'm sorry, did you say-”

“J.A.R.V.I.S. has been running it since I hit the bridge. In a few hours we'll know every dirty secret S.H.I.E.L.D. has ever tried to hide.” The billionaire interrupted Steve and pointed the bag of fruit in his hand towards him. “Blueberry?”

“Yet you're confused about why they didn't want you around.” The Captain declined the offer.

“An intelligence organization that fears intelligence? Historically not possible.”

“Something was wrong with having you here, it’s not a game, Tony,” you warned. “You know I’ll be in very deep shit when the boss will find out what you’re up to.”

“Says the girl who told the Chinese, Russian and American’s governments to kiss her ass.”

“I think Loki's trying to wind us up,” Steve reminded, going back to business. “This is a man who means to start a war, and if don't stay focused, he'll succeed. We have orders, we should follow them.”

“Following is not really my style,” Tony claimed and earned your family smirk.

“And you're all about style, aren't you?”

“Of the people in this room, which one is; a) wearing a spangly outfit, and b) not of use?”

Sensing the embarrassment and tension filling the room, you turned to the scientist and mentally cursed the two men arguing behind you.

“Steve, tell me none of this smells a little funky to you?” Bruce interjected, understanding you.

“Just find the cube.” And with that, a very angry looking Captain America took off.

“Very useful,” you said, going back to work.

“That's the guy dad never shut up about? Wondering if you shouldn't have kept him on ice.” Tony said in your direction and you rolled your eyes for the hundredth time of the night.

“What?” He exhaled.

“You _both_ act like idiots! Drama queens,” you blurted out and his eyes grew wide. “All he knows about you is what I told him and seems like he forgot it… Tony, you don’t know Steve.”

“Because you certainly do, you spent three months in a cabin with this soldier and you think you know him?”

“Better than you? Hell yeah! He’s just doing his job, what he’s been trained for.”

“The guy's not wrong about Loki; he does have the jump on us,” Bruce joined in.

“We’d still be better without him,” Tony snorted and you dropped the papers on the table. “Hey, where are you going?” He asked as you walked towards the door of the lab.

“Somewhere you won’t make me burn this aircraft.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know what's the only thing I hate about The Avengers... the way Whedon wrote Steve and Clint! It's so frustrating because there is a large difference between them in the Avengers movies and their characters in the MCU in general. I was very disappointed by their characterization in these movies, let's hope the Russo brothers and the crew have kept up their great work in Infinity War and Avengers 4.


	43. The Faster You Rise - (Avengers x Reader) 6/9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rating: Teens and Up  
> Summary: Reader finally knows what S.H.I.E.L.D. is realy doing with the Tesseract and what is Phase 2 because of Tony's hacking and Steve's little invastigation.  
> Words Count: 2.2k  
> Warnings: None.  
> Author's Note: I'm so sorry, I couldn't update yesterday because of some Wi-Fi problems.

The Bridge, the Helicarrier, Classified Rigorously checking the Galaga agent’s work on the search for Clint, Selvig and the Tesseract, you crossed your arms behind him and stared at several computer screens around in hope to catch a missing detail. Yet, after endless minutes, you couldn’t seem to find anything and Hill- who stood next to you, pressed a finger on her earpiece, sensing it was time for the best asset of this agency to make her appearance.

“Romanoff, it’s time. Loki’s cell. You know what to do,” the deputy director ordered.

_‘Give me ten minutes and you’ll have everything.’_

“You have five,” Hill finished and you smiled, knowing Natasha loved to work with a little pressure from the superiors.

You nodded professionally towards the agent, who came back to her spot next to Fury’s command area and you turned, spotting Thor talking with Phil just behind you. You slowly approached the two men, finally noticing how muscular and tall the blonde Prince was.

“We pretend on Asgard that we're more advanced, but we come here battling like Bilchsteim.” Thor said and you narrowed your eyes as you carefully watched them closely.

“Like what?” Coulson asked; confused, keeping walking up the bridge.

“Bilchsteim. You know; huge, scaly, big antlers,” the Asgardian explained, trying to show with his hands how big these monsters looked. “You don't have those?”

“Don't think so,” your mentor responded, amused.

“They are repulsive, and they trample everything in their path.”

The opportunity given to you, you went down the stairs, next to them and Phil grinned, seeing you with a quite exciting beam on your face as you tried to start a normal conversation. But, at this exact moment it was his turn to laugh at you, noting you were next to _Thor_.

“Sorry to interrupt,” you smiled, hiding your hands in your catsuit pockets and you gave your attention to the blonde.

“Don’t lose it, Y/N,” Coulson coughed, his fist hiding his lips and your eyes threw daggers - more like a daughter in front of her father - before trying to talk with your new teammate.

“How do you find our realm, didn’t change much since you came back from Asgard?”

“I wish it was under other circumstances,” Thor mused, sharing your lamentable look and you all stopped at the edge of the ship.

“Your brother seems to like us,” you observed sarcastically, remembering why he’d landed on this planet only a year ago and how everything had turned out dramatically.

“When I first came to earth, Loki's rage followed me here and your people paid the price. And now again. In my youth, I courted war,” the Prince responded as he stared at the window.

“War hasn't started yet,” you assured in a soft tone. “You think you can make Loki tell us what the Tesseract is?” You questioned, still having no clue why S.H.I.E.L.D. had kept the cube and ran some tests. You wanted your own answers as Tony wanted his.

“I do not know. Loki's mind is far afield, it's not just power he craves, it's vengeance upon me. There's no pain that would prize his need from him.”

“A lot of guys think that, until the pain stops,” Fury claimed from the stairs beside you, surprising everyone around who hadn’t noticed his presence.

“What are you asking me to do?” Thor asked.

“I'm asking what are you prepared to do?” The Director leaned closer to you both, his hands supporting his weight on the railing.

“Loki is a prisoner.”

“Then why do I feel like he's the only person on this boat that wants to be here?” Fury inquired, glancing at you and when no answers seem to leave your mouths, you watched as he left to the command’s area as the sun rose through the windows.

“He’s not wrong about that,” Phil agreed and Thor furrowed his brows, both speechless. You stared at your mentor, long seconds passing, trying to find his usual support and he shrugged lightly, leaving you with your new teammate as he headed towards the stairs.

“Stark, come here!” Fury ordered from a computer pretty close to you- where he’d gathered with Hill and some of your colleagues, and before you could even start another conversation.

You walked over, watching the screen claiming _‘Virus Detected: Unauthorized Access’_. You tightened your jaw as Hill glared at you, wondering if it was you behind it when you knew it was the billionaire’s work.

“Your brother is hacking our files from his phone,” Hill began. “Did you know about that?”

“Tony Stark, old enough to do something without his nanny’s consent, don’t you think?”

 _‘Loki means to unleash the Hulk,’_ Natasha’s voice interjected in the coms as she informed the team of the enemy’s plan. _‘Keep Banner in the lab. Send Thor as well, I'm on my way.’_

“Follow me!” Fury commanded, and you exhaled deeply, knowing what was about to happen as you both strolled over the labs of the ship.

“What are you doing, Mr. Stark?” The boss asked as you entered the room where Tony was sitting on a table and Bruce stood behind him, minding his own business.

“Uh... kind of been wondering the same thing about you,” your brother responded.

“You're supposed to be locating the Tesseract,” you cut in, staying out of troubles for once.

“We are,” Bruce sated, pointing at his work. “The model's locked and we're sweeping for the signature now. When we get a hit, we'll have the location within half a mile.”

“And you'll get your cube back, no muss, no fuss,” Tony finished and some important classified S.H.I.E.L.D. files appeared on his monitor. “What is Phase 2?” He interrogated and Steve appeared next to you with a weapon you’d seen as Hydra’s WWII ones, putting it on a table behind Fury.

“Phase 2 is S.H.I.E.L.D. used the cube to make weapons,” the super soldier added, shifting his attention to Tony in sarcasm. “Sorry, the computer was moving a little slow for me.”

“Rogers, we gathered everything related to the Tesseract. This does not mean that we're-” the Director tried to explain, but was quickly interrupted by a certain billionaire, leaving you wondering what they were talking about and you began to doubt about your presence here.

“I'm sorry, Nick,” Tony moved the monitor towards him, which showed plans of an unknown weapon. “What were you lying?”

“What is that?” You breathed, taking a closer look at the screen and you turned to your boss for more explanation.

“I was wrong, Director. The world hasn't changed a bit,” As Steve glared at Fury, Thor and Natasha walked in the room.

“Did you know about this?” Bruce asked the former K.G.B. assassin, noticing you were as lost as everyone in this laboratory except Fury.

“You wanna think about removing yourself from this environment, doctor?”

“I was in Calcutta, I was pretty well removed,” the scientist scoffed.

“Loki's manipulating you,” you uttered, your professional stature returning as you tried to process what was happening.

“And you've been doing what exactly?” He asked and looked back at Natasha when she approached him with a light smirk.

“You didn't come here because I bat my eyelashes at you,” she retorted.

“Yes, and I'm not leaving because suddenly you get a little twitchy.” He finished, pointing at the monitor, “I'd like to know why S.H.I.E.L.D. is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction.”

“Because of him,” Fury revealed whilst pointing at Thor and catching everyone off guard.

“Me?” The Asgardian asked, stunned and you all furrowed your brows.

“Last year, earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge mass that leveled a small town. We learned that not only are we not alone, but we are hopelessly, _hilariously_ , out gunned.”

“My people want nothing but peace with your planet,” Thor claimed.

“But you're not the only people out there, are you? And, you're not the only threat. The world's filling up with people who can't be matched, they can't be controlled.”

“Control who, you want to control people like me?” You protested; almost feeling betrayed by this Phase 2 secret and Fury shook his head.

“Like you controlled the cube?” Steve joined in.

“Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it, and his allies. It is the signal to all the realms that the earth is ready for a higher form of war!”

“A higher form?” Steve interrogated, turning his head to the Asgardian.

“You forced our hand. We had to come up with something-” Fury responded to the Prince.

“A nuclear deterrent,” Tony cut in. “’Cause that always calms everything right down.”

“Remind me again how your family made your fortune, Stark?”

“I'm sure if he still made weapons, Stark would be neck deep-”

“Wait! Wait!” Your brother interrupted Steve and Fury.

“Hold on! How is this now about me?” “I'm sorry, isn't everything?” The super soldier sassed.

“I thought humans were more evolved than this,” Thor analyzed, looking to them arguing.

“Excuse me, did _we_ come to _your_ planet and blow stuff up?” Fury snapped and it was the signal you all waited for as you started arguing and talking over each other.

"Did you always give your champions such mistrust?" The Asgardian questioned.

“You’re not my champion,” the boss retaliated.

"Are you boys really that naïve? S.H.I.E.L.D. monitors potential threats," Natasha mocked.

"Captain America is on threat watch?" Bruce asked.

"We all are."

" _We_ are a threat?" You snorted, eyebrow quirking at the director. "Then you are hiring us to watch over us, isn’t it the truth?"

"Everything's not about you right now, Agent Stark.”

"Sure, it's about an imaginary threat you are creating and listing,” your voice was loud enough for your colleagues to hear and Fury and Natasha blinked.

"You’re on that list?" Tony asked Steve. “Are you above or below angry bees?”

"I swear to God, Stark, one more crack-"

"Threatening! I feel threatened!"

“You speak of control, yet you court chaos,” Thor observed and Bruce stepped from behind the table to get everyone’s attention.

“It's his M.O., isn't it? I mean, what are we, a team? No, no, no. We're a chemical mixture that makes chaos. We're- we're a time-bomb.”

“ _You_ need to step away,” the director warned.

“Why shouldn't the guy let off a little steam?” Tony suggested, putting his hand on the Captain’s shoulder.

“You know damn well why! Back off!” Steve pushed your brother off.

“Oh, I'm starting to want you to make me.”

“Yeah, big man in a suit of armor. Take that off, what are you?” The super soldier questioned and went face to face with Tony.

“Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist.”

“I know guys with none of that worth ten of you. I've seen the footage. The only thing you really fight for is yourself. You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on a wire and let the other guy crawl over you,” Steve spat and you sent him a cold glare, shocked by these unexpected words.

“I think I would just cut the wire.”

Steve smirked as he turned his head to you and back to Tony, “always a way out. You know, you may not be a threat, but you better stop pretending to be a hero.”

“A hero, like you? You're a laboratory experiment, Rogers. Everything special about you came out of a _bottle_.” Your brother bit and you swallowed a groan; they were both immature and _absurdly wrong_ about one another which started to get on your nerves.

“Put on the suit, let's go a few rounds,” Steve offered.

“You people are so petty… and tiny,” Thor laughed at them, ridiculously fighting.

“Yeah, this is a team-”

“Agent Romanoff, would you escort Dr. Banner back to his-” Fury interrupted Bruce.

“Where? You're renting my room,” the scientist blurted out.

“The cell was just in case-”

“In case you needed to kill me, but you can't! I know, I tried.” Hearing those words, you all looked at Bruce in a mix of emotions. “I got low, I didn't see an end, so I put a bullet in my mouth and the other guy spit it out. So, I moved on, I focused on helping other people. I was good until you dragged me back into this freak show and put everyone here at risk. You wanna know my secret, Agent Romanoff?” He put his hand on Loki’s scepter and continued. “You wanna know how I stay calm?” He finished, taking the magical stick from the table. You all stared at him with suspicion and the spies you were unhooked your guns by instinct.

“Dr. Banner… put down the scepter,” Steve ordered in a gentle voice and Bruce looked down at was he was holding in shock, but his astonishment was interrupted as the computer searching for a location of the Tesseract beeped.

“Got it,” Bruce put down the scepter and walked towards the computer monitor. “Sorry, kids. You don't get to see my party trick after all.”

“Located the Tesseract?” Thor asked.

“I can get there faster,” Tony announced.

“Look, all of us-”

“The Tesseract belongs on Asgard; no human is a match for it,” the Prince cut Steve off and Tony turned to leave, but the Captain stopped him before he could walk through the glass door.

“You're not going alone!”

“You gonna stop me?” Your brother interrogated.

“Put on the suit, let's find out,” Steve provoked.

“I'm not afraid to hit an old man.”

“Put on the suit.”

Trying hard to not bring your clenched fists on both of their faces and shut down their egos, you turned your head to the scientist, who held a shocked expression on his features.

“Oh, my God,” Bruce whispered whilst looking at the monitor…


	44. The Faster You Rise - (Avengers x Reader) 7/9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rating: Teens and Up  
> Summary: The Avengers have to finally team up together and face Loki's team of mercenaries inside the Helicarrier, yet everything doesn't end well, especially for Reader.  
> Words Count: 2.6k  
> Warnings: swearing, violence, mentions of blood, character's death, mention of alcohol and angst

_ _

_S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Helicarrier - The laboratories_

“Oh, my God,” Bruce whispered whilst looking at the monitor.

You couldn’t even process his words that a big explosion shook the whole ship and everyone was thrown in every direction as the lab exploded under your feet. Steve, Tony, you and Thor with Fury landed in different parts across the room while Bruce and Natasha flew through a window towards the lower level of the equipment room.

Your back arched off the floor naturally as you felt the pieces of glass under the leather of your suit and you blinked your eyes open, shaking your head as the vibrations of the explosion still shook your brain. A thin white smoke trapped the room and you turned your gaze, seeing Thor lying next to you as he tried to get his head straight again.

“Y/N, where are you?!” Tony coughed a raspy tone of panic as he glanced around him and you groaned loudly, lifting your hand up and waving in his direction. “Is everything okay?”

“I’m… I’m fine” you grunted, crawling towards him weakly. “How- how about you?” You breathed harshly, looking for any sign of a wound on his body and feeling your heart crashing against your ribcage at the thought of seeing him injured.

Your brother reassured you, showing he was all right and you brought a palm to your head, turning to Steve, who held his hand down to you. You accepted the offer, standing up and in two quick seconds, you saw the damages around, bringing a new frown to your forehead.

“I’m perfectly fine, Y/N,” the super soldier answered, sensing your question about his physical health and you smiled lightly. “You sure you good?”

“Don’t worry, Steve… now, go!” You exclaimed, and went looking for Fury at the other side of the room, hoping he had survived.

“Put on the suit,” the Captain breathed out in the billionaire’s direction.

“Yep!” Tony got up and they both ran out of the lab.

“Nick?!” You called, kneeling to his sides next to a table. “Sir, are you fine?”

He exhaled a positive answer, sitting up and he brought a finger to his earpiece, “Hill?”

As the spy began to explain what had caused the explosion and where the problem was located, you turned around and noticed Thor leaving in a hurry with his hammer. Getting your attention back to Fury, who was giving his orders to the team, you waited for yours.

“Stark, on the deck with me. Now!” Fury commanded, and you followed him, running inside the ship that was busy with all the engineers, working on the killed engine and STRIKE Team fighting a group of mercenaries trying to infiltrate the Helicarrier.

Quickly finding the threat on your way, you used your knives to take every man and woman down. After having stabbed all of them with the help of the boss, you got inside the bridge and waited for the next wave of mercenaries to walk in and get kicked.

As Fury gave his new commands to move the Helicarrier above the ocean, you pointed your gun at the double doors and an enormous roar could be heard in the whole ship. At this moment, you could feel your blood freezing when the thought of Natasha being with Bruce- or the other guy in this case -came back to your mind.

“Stark, I need you-”

“Grenade!” Hill shouted, cutting off Fury and her body hit the stairs as the explosive blew close to her spot of work.

Spotting the mercenaries, you ran to hide in a corner with the director and fought two of them while he shot at three. Without a break, you aimed your weapon and shot a bullet at a former soldier about to kill your boss.

 _‘We have the Hulk and Thor on research level 4.’_ An agent informed you.

“Sir, the Hulk will tear this place apart!” Hill cried out and you loaded your gun.

“Get his attention!” Fury ordered and the deputy director commanded the pilot of the Escort 6.0 to shoot at the Hulk if necessary.

Shooting at more mercenaries on the deck, you dodged in time when an arrow grazed the skin of your arm as it planted in one of the computers of the tech team, creating another smaller explosion. You gasped, turning your head and you instinctively aimed at a small window as you saw Clint, pulling the string of his bow and another familiar arrow was thrown.

The bullet destined to pass through his arm finally lodged in the wall as the Helicarrier began to free fall due to the shut down remaining engines. You cursed as you fell on the ground, your weapon slipping out of your hand and you clung on a railing to not drag to the windows as the agents around you all lost their balance.

“It's Barton, he took our systems. He's headed for the detention lab. Does anybody copy?”

 _‘This is Agent Romanoff. I copy,_ ’ Natasha responded in a shaky voice and you released your breath, hearing her voice again.

“ _Anthony_ … what the hell are you doing?!” You interrogated through the coms, knowing he was the one supposed to fix the engine with Steve’s help and you pushed on your arms, supporting your weight with your hands.

 _‘Uh, kind of asking the same question… wait a second!’_ He answered and a moment later, finally the Helicarrier stabilized itself and you were out of troubles for now.

“Sir, who’s in the detention section?” You asked, getting on your feet and you took back your knives, ready to fight again.

“Coulson,” Fury revealed and you swallowed, feeling worried with wide eyes. “Go, join him!”

As soon as you got the green light, you just rushed to the stairs and jumped over them, taking down another mercenary waiting outside the room where was held the enemy. As you walked in, you saw the dark Prince standing next to where used to be the glass cell with his blue magic stick in hand.

“Loki, drop your scepter,” you aimed your blades and shifted your head to the side, witnessing Phil’s chest covered in blood, collapsed against the wall. “You son of a bitch.”

“I don't think I-”

Your mentor interrupted Loki, shooting with one of the enormous Phase 2 weapons Steve had brought up to you earlier and sent him through a wall before you could throw an ice blast in order to kill him.

“So that's what it does,” Coulson whispered and you dropped your vibranium blades, kneeling next to him in a panic and great fear you held inside, only seemingly.

Instinctively, you pressed a hand on his chest to stop the bleeding. “Stay here,” you brushed your earpiece. “We have an agent down, I need medical attention in level 5! I repeat, we need medical attention!”

The man who was like a father to you was gravely wounded and you knew how it was about to end, but you tried. You just put all your weight to stop the red from dripping out of his heart.

“It’s gonna be okay,” you assured and tried to not break out. “Just stay awake. Eyes on me.”

“I’m sorry about your family, Y/N. I could’ve done more.” Phil murmured, and some blood spilled out of his mouth. “I’m so sorry,” he begged, putting his hand on yours and squeezed it.

“What are you talking about?” You breathed, narrowing your eyes. “You just focus on staying with me; you can make it. You can.”

“Have I ever told you how much I’m proud of you? It’s the right time, I'm clockin' out here.”

“Not- not… not an option. Don’t leave me alone, you have to stay with me,” you ordered in a desperate tone, trembling. “Hey- I need you… Phil, you are the one person in this agency who believes in me. I can’t lose you,” your voice cracked as you held the tears, yet the pain began to create its way to your heart, seeing him fighting hard for you. “Where’s the medic?!”

“It's okay, Angel eyes. This was never gonna work if you all didn't have something to...”

“Ph- Phil?” You called, like a lost child as he didn’t finish the sentence and his blue eyes were empty, life leaving him in a cold place. Your mind, your body couldn’t believe what had just happened.

“Wake up, it’s not funny,” your hands desperately shook his head. “Coulson…? Phil?!” As no more sound came out, you lowered your head, putting your bloody palms on your thighs as hot tears streamed down. “Not you… _Please_!” You sobbed in a tortured scream echoing everywhere in the level.

* * *

 

_A couple of hours later, the Helicarrier, Classified_

With blood shot eyes, you gathered with the remaining Avengers in the ship's meeting room where you sat in silence and as you looked at the table, you saw an empty and broken reflect.

“These were in Phil Coulson's jacket. Guess he never did get you to sign them.” The Boss began from the other side of the table and threw the Captain America trading cards on the glass towards Steve. “We're dead in the air up here. Our communications, location of the cube, Banner, Thor. I got nothing for you. Lost my one good eye. Maybe I had that coming.”

Fury paused for a moment and Steve looked over you, meeting your watery eyes as you finished staring at his hands holding the cards you used to joke about. At this moment, they seemed more emotional, holding bittersweet memories. When the super soldier gave you a smile meaning he was sorry and he would be here for you, you tried to do the same. Failed.

“Yes, we were going to build an arsenal with the Tesseract. I never put all my chips on that number, though, because I was playing something even riskier,” Fury continued as he walked around the table. “There was an idea, the Starks know this, called The Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, see if they could become something more. See if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles that we never could. Phil Coulson died still believing in that idea, in heroes.”

As he said those words, you felt the irresistible want to throw up. How could he call people like you heroes when you had left your mentor dying alone? Sensing the same disgust in Tony’s features, you both stood from your chairs at the same time, leaving Fury and Steve to not freak out in front of them.

As you walked out, side by side, Tony held his gaze straight to the hallway and his hand enveloped yours, squeezing it firmly. You stopped in your tracks, looking at him and in total silence; he wrapped his arms around you and held you close to him, putting a reassuring kiss on your head. You remained there, feeling safe in your brother’s arms, who whispered he was sorry so many times and you thanked him for his endless support you needed most.

“Do you need something?”

“Jack Daniels… whole bottle,” you cracked a sad thin smile. “I’m going to see Nat,” you informed, pulling away. “She’s got Clint and I need answers.”

Tony wiped out the tears from your cheeks and you watched as he winked, walking towards the detention section. You stared at the wall, suddenly feeling so lonely here and you headed to the infirmary before you felt a large hand taking your arm gently.

“I’m sorry for what happened.” Your gaze shifted to Steve’s worried blue eyes. “If you want to talk about this, I’ll be here.”

“Maybe later,” you shook your head. “I’m trying to get my head straight because there will be a lot happening with Audrey… the funerals-” You stopped a moment, staring at him when realization and hatred hit you. “This guy… this Loki killed the person who was close to being a father to me. He made this personal.”

“I know and he will pay for his crimes,” the super soldier placed a hand on your shoulder. “I promise you, Y/N.”

“I will crush him and if I can't get Loki, you can be sure I'm gonna make someone pay... whoever the hell it is,” you said, as cold as ever. “He must know when someone touches my family, I _kill_ them.” No emotions written on your features, vengeance and dark purpose directed your steps as you left Steve’s sweet reassuring company without another word.

You went inside the hospital wing of the ship where Natasha and Clint were, not knowing what had happened to them exactly, just that the Hulk almost killed the ex redhead assassin, who managed to get her best friend back into your side.

Through the door’s window, you saw them talking side-by-side and you entered silently, feeling your partner in crime lost and willed to be repentant of his unconscious latest actions.

“Barton,” you leaned against the doorway as the door closed behind you.

“Y/N?” Clint called like he was shocked to see you bruised and your eyes worn with tears you’d let run for the first time since your parents had died. “You loo-”

“I look like a mess, I know,” you interrupted and walked over to hug him. “Have you seen what you did to my face?” You tried to chuckle on his shoulder, but nothing came out.

“I’m sorry,” he broke away, “for everything and Coulson-”

“I’m fine,” you snapped and the archer knew it wasn’t time to try to comfort you.

“Loki, he got away?” He asked as he changed the subject and Natasha brought a hand on your shoulder, sending you a smile as support.

“Yeah. I don't suppose you know where?”

“I didn't need to know. I didn't ask. He's gonna make his play soon, though. Today.”

“We gotta stop him,” Natasha claimed as she stared at a window and Clint drank the water you’d poured for him.

“Yeah? Who's we?”

“I don't know. Who's ever left,” she shrugged and you looked away.

“Well, if I put an arrow in Loki's eye socket, I'd sleep better, I suppose,” he sighed and the redhead moved closer to him.

“Now you sound like you.”

“But you don't. You're a spy, not a soldier,” Clint stated and you stood from the bed, resting against the wall. “Now you want to wade into a war. Why? What did Loki do to you?”

“He didn't, I just...” your best friend trailed off as she looked down.

“Natasha,” you whispered, not urging for a response, but more like you’d be here for her.

“I've been compromised. I got red in my ledger; I'd like to wipe it out.” As soon as she finished, Steve appeared in the room- next to you -his uniform back on.

“Time to go.”

“Go where?” Natasha asked, unprepared to go anytime soon.

“I'll tell you on the way. Can you fly one of those jets?”

“I can,” Clint notified and Steve met your eyes for a positive answer. You nodded in confirmation your best friend was back on your side for good.

“You got a suit?” The super soldier asked the archer and he responded affirmatively. “Then suit up,” he ordered and left the infirmary quickly with you following closely.

Stopping at your locker, you pushed a hand inside and took a look at your locket hanging with your civilian clothes. You opened it, smiling for the first time in hours at the sight of the two small photos inside and you settled it with your knives back inside, shutting the door firmly as your eyes shone orange with the fire of anger.

After getting ready, you swallowed the pain and put on your favorite unemotional face as you joined Steve, Clint and Natasha inside bay six. You all walked onto the nearest Quinjet, determined to make things right and make Loki pay for what had happened a few hours ago.

“Hey… you guys aren’t authorized to be in here,” the tech agent uttered, leaving his seat.

“Son. Just don’t,” Steve warned with his strong soldier’s voice and your colleague left silent, probably afraid to get hit by him or anyone of you.

“Son?” You scoffed. “Don’t you think this guy’s biologically older than you?”

“Wanted to try,” he buckled up and you sat next to him as Clint and Natasha started the jet.

“Don't die out there. It would be very stupid _now_ that you came back, right?” Your first real attempt at humor faded away as your friend offered you a knowing dry look. “Too soon, yeah? I know, sorry.”

“Where are we going Cap?” Natasha interrogated, giving you a knowing look of hers.

“Stark Tower.”


	45. The Faster You Rise - (Avengers x Reader) 8/9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rating: Teens and Up  
> Summary: The Avengers are thrown in a battle in New York against Loki's army of aliens - the Chitauri - and they have to protect the earth from their invasion, trying to get back the Tesseract from the enemy.  
> Words Count: 3.5k  
> Warnings: violence, mentions of death, swearing and tiny bit of angst.  
> Author's Note: A very, very long chapter because I didn't want to cut the battle of New York in two parts. Anyway, it's time for you to unleash your great powers.

_A few minutes later - the Quinjet, Manhattan, NYC_

As Natasha and Clint piloted the jet towards the Tower- from where Loki was supposed to command the army Thor had mentioned, you watched through the windows a wormhole deforming the clear sky - in a sunny morning - opened with some kind of aliens coming through, shooting at every person on their way down the big apple.

"What the...?" You whispered to yourself and shifted your attention to Steve's. "Still think the world hasn't changed?"

"Stark, we're on your three heading northeast," the redhead informed your brother through the communication system.

_'What, did you stop for drive-thru? Swing that park, I'm gonna lay 'em out for you.'_

"Y/N, I think it's show time," Clint smirked, focusing on the enemies as he aimed at the chitauri coming closer to the jet and he opened the ramp for you.

Nodding at your team with strength in your eyes, you stood from your seat and ran outside without a word, jumping into a free fall.

"Flame on!"

Your body suiting up in fire, you flew straight to the building named after your family, firing fire balls to the chitauri on your way up with the Quinjet by your sides, doing the same with its machine gun. You flew higher up, destroying as many of them as you could and your rage and hatred mercilessly killed every warrior coming to you.

As you approached Loki fighting with Thor on the balcony of the penthouse, you let the fire run inside your throat, blowing it towards him. In a defensive move, the brunette Asgardian charged his blue scepter and shot in your direction. Dodging it, he shot another blast to the Quinjet wing, which tried to fire at him with its gun.

"Natasha, is everything okay?" You asked, aiming at the aliens and witnessing your friends' emergency landing as the population screamed in fear, trying to run, drive outside and hide from these creatures no humans had the misfortune to meet before this tragic day.

_'We're fine, just a little shaken.'_

Without any hesitation, you tried to head closer the wormhole and killed dozens of chitauri as your body avoided their shoots with their rifles made of energy.

Hearing an enormous roar from the sky, your jaw dropped at the sight as you noticed a _giant_ airship that looked like a worm coming through the portal along with more warriors attacking your hometown.

"Holy shit! I didn't sign up for this, guys!" Floating in the air, the thing passed right next to you, and flew down the streets as more aliens jumped out of its core, dragging into the buildings and creating more chaos in the city.

 _'Stark, are you seeing this?'_ Steve asked the billionaire in your earpiece.

 _'I'm seeing, still working on believing.'_ Tony responded and you let the fire loose in your hands, shooting at the alien army. _'Where's Banner? Has he shown up yet?'_

"Banner?" You and the super soldier interrogated at the same time.

_'Just keep me posted.'_

As you knew you couldn't contain the attack above all alone, you went lower down, searching for Loki and get the revenge you sought. Cars exploded everywhere beneath you, creating an apocalyptic atmosphere and you followed the chitauri in the city before you finally met the brunette's eyes, mocking you as he led his soldiers flying behind him from his alien chariot.

Following him in between many famous buildings and avenues, you fired at the chitauri and let their ashes fall on the ground as you disintegrated their bodies with all the anger you felt. Yet, as you were too focused on the group of soldiers trying to kill you as they tracked your fly behind, Loki got away easily without you could even attack him.

You groaned in irritation and you dropped your gaze to Park Avenue, seeing Natasha, Clint and Steve hiding behind an abandoned car and you landed next to them, joining the group.

"Always so lost without me," you quirked a brow and the redhead smiled, mimicking you.

"You think you can hold them off?" The super soldier asked Clint.

"Captain," the archer pulled a trigger on his bow. "It would be my genuine pleasure." With that, he began shooting arrows at the aliens on the ground and Steve left, fighting on a lower level.

STRIKE Team: Delta reunited; you all started aiming at the chitauri whilst your new teammate made his way towards the cops nearby to help them. Clint ran over a bus full of people, pulling out the people trapped inside to safety and he came back to you moments later.

"Just like Budapest all over again!" Natasha yelled as you fought off the warriors together.

"You and I remember Budapest very differently."

"What about our mission in Abidjan, looked like that?" You suggested and they turned to you like you'd said something very stupid. "A common memory, please?! I _wasn't_ in Budapest!"

"You missed the hell of something," they both chuckled and you continued to fire.

"Yeah, like Clint missed my sandwich in South Ossetia. Such a beautiful vegetarian one that Tasha threw away like it was shit."

The archer tripped an alien warrior and rammed an arrow down its throat as you flew up, commanding fireballs upon your palms and Natasha jumped onto a chitauri, electrifying it with her Widow's Bite. You aimed your attack towards the warriors from outer space coming down and tried to protect your teammates from above their heads.

Landing back on the ground, Natasha grabbed an energy rifle and shot a blast at an alien about to aim at your back. Smiling gratefully at her, you dodged another energy blast from a soldier and smashed your fired fists through its stomach, taking it down.

Steve joined back in, throwing his shield strategically and taking down the oncoming chitauri soldiers. Out of nowhere, lighting hit the remaining group of aliens in front you and convulsed dead on the ground before the person, who caused it landed on the ground, joined all of you.

"What's the story upstairs?" The super soldier asked Thor as you came back to your regular form and walked closer to them.

"The power surrounding the cube is impenetrable."

 _'Thor is right; we gotta deal with these guys,'_ Tony agreed from his flying armor.

"How do we do this?" Natasha interrogated.

"As a team."

"I have unfinished business with Loki," Thor claimed.

"Like all of us," you interjected and felt the vengeance taking over.

"Yeah, get in line," Clint agreed.

"Save it. Loki's gonna keep this fight focused on us and that's what we need. Without him, these things could run wild. We got Stark up top, he's gonna need us-" Steve found himself interrupted by the sound of a motorbike behind his back and just then, your eyes widened in surprise as Bruce climbed out of the vehicle.

"So, this all seems horrible," the scientist referred to the mess in the city as he looked around.

"I've seen worse," Natasha replied.

"Sorry."

"No, we could... use... a little worse."

"Stark, we got him," Steve informed Tony, looking at Bruce with a slight hint of amusement.

_'Banner?'_

"Just like you said."

 _'Tell him to suit up. I'm bringing the party to you.'_ As soon as he finished, your brother took a corner of a building, showing himself and a giant chitauri leviathan followed closely behind.

"What in the shit is that?"

"I- I don't see how that's a party," your best friend commented.

"It's not the worse he dragged me into."

Tony swooped down the street and the enormous enemy took the bait, destroying everything on its way. Watching the scene before him, Bruce began to walk up to the flying serpent.

"Doctor Banner, now might be a good time for you to get angry," Steve suggested.

"That's my secret, Cap. I'm always angry." He revealed and the other guy took over as Bruce transformed into the Hulk, smashing the leviathan's head and causing it to flip over.

 _'Hold on.'_ Tony warned and shot a rock at the creature's body.

As the Hulk and Tony's combined work cut to pieces the leviathan, your instinct told you to turn around, getting on one knee as you brought an arm to your head and Thor mimicked right behind you. His body hovered over yours, protecting you from the pieces on fire, falling and crashing onto the street's pavement.

Seeing their ally dead, every chitauri around screamed and roared in fury as the Avengers gathered proudly like they were supposed to since the beginning. The earth's mightiest heroes assembled in a circle to protect the world.

"Guys," Natasha called, looking up as more warriors came down to you.

Standing in between Clint and Thor, your gaze followed a second wave of hundreds more chitauri soldiers accompanied by some other leviathan flying ships passing through the wormhole.

"Call it, Captain."

"All right, listen up." Steve ordered, watching them. "Until we can close that portal up there, we're gonna use containment. Barton, I want you on that roof, eyes on everything. Call out patterns and strays. Stark, you got the perimeter. Anything gets more than three blocks out, you turn it back or you turn it to ash."

"Wanna give me a lift?" Clint asked, turning to Tony.

"Right. Better clench up, Legolas," your brother placed a hand on the archer's suit, gripping him and he lifted him up to the building right next to where you stood.

As he had more commands for the team, Steve turned to you and the Asgardian, "Thor, you've gotta try and bottleneck that portal, slow them down. You've got the lightning, light the bastards up. Y/N, you shoot at everything up there, destroy them."

When you received your orders, you suited up in fire again as Thor immediately twirled his hammer and you both flew up, instantly fighting the alien soldiers.

"Let the battle begin," you stretched your neck, looking at the blue sky that contrasted radically with the desolation happening beneath your feet.

You held your hands out as you emitted two huge flamethrowers towards them, ravaging more than a dozen of chitauri following your way. Ducking as one of them tried to beam a blast, a quick succession of fireballs left your palms, killing it and everything passing next to you.

'Y/N,' Thor's strong voice boomed in your ear. ' _You might want to step aside.'_

As you did so, in a blink of an eye, the Prince held out his hammer from the Chrysler building and you swallowed in awe as the darkest gray clouds you had seen appeared above, commanding a large rumble of thunder and lighting. He created such a great energy that every window of the famous building shattered and the chitauri he aimed at were all disintegrated in a matter of seconds.

You joined in, gathering your strength and you grunted, shooting the biggest stream of fire you could, mixing it with Thor's bright lighting as your deadly art decorated the sky and hit badly the leviathans above. You spoon around yourself as you flew up and let the fire loose, seeing the disastrous and horrific result, every alien around burning and convulsing to death.

"Thor, we should team up more often," you breathed, looking down at him as he held out his hammer from his spot.

Beneath your feet, you hit and reduced to ashes every soldier and Thor created chaos whilst fighting the chitauri flying out of the portal until none of them seemed willing to pass through.

"Captain, the sky's clear for the moment," you informed, landing on a roof and the Asgardian flew elsewhere he was needed. "I'm staying on-"

You didn't even have time to blink your eyes that the Hulk smashed the wall of the building across yours as he ripped two aliens apart and he jumped, dramatically landing next to you. As you stepped aside, lips parted, the green rage monster punched and wrecked every chitauri that followed him and took off as fast as he came, attacking another leviathan flying past your roof.

"Tony, there's a giant... the giant worm on the 6th... Banner is on it," you brushed a fingertip on your earpiece, following the attack with wide eyes as you witnessed the chaotic effects of the Hulk's work against your enemies.

 _'Already on it, sis,'_ your brother uttered, and a mix of red and gold flashed your view with the radiant sun rays as it headed towards the leviathan.

 _'Y/N, meet me outside the bank passed Madison.'_ Steve panted and you jumped from the roof, killing on your way as you joined the right street of a destroyed Manhattan. Coming down, you aimed, firing at the aliens around the super soldier.

"Thanks," he breathed, passing a hand through his damped hair and you noticed his helmet missing. "Feeling good?"

"I should get ten bucks for every time you asked me this," you chuckled, panting lightly.

A sound of crashing caught your attention and as you both turned your heads to the side, you saw a car with a family inside driving towards a dark corner of the street followed by two warriors. Seeing this, you both glanced at each other's eyes and rushed to them as they were trapped in a dead end and a chitauri destroyed the car's rear window.

Steve threw his shield, getting their attention to you both and as they turned to him, you mentally commanded the ice to surround your body, shooting two ice blasts and you froze them dead on the ground. You ran to the vehicle, checking if the family was all right inside and the only little boy terrified in the back, handed the shield to Steve with a joyful smile, not believing he saw Captain America.

"Thanks," he winked and the boy's smile widened. "Get to the underground," he advised and the family drove to their hiding spot. "We head back to Park Avenue, now."

Nodding, you rushed back to where it all started and found Thor swinging his hammer. You stood between him and Steve and you focused on your body, feeling the temperature changing from regular to a polar cold. You walked lowest and stopped as four soldiers from outer space approached you with their weapons in hands.

"Captain," you called and he reached for you, protecting you with his shield as the chitauri began to shoot energy beams to the three of you.

You took a deep breath and the wind of ice came out of your throat, allowing you to freeze them in place like the time had stopped. Steve swirled, throwing his shield with such force towards the new statues of ice you created that he shattered them in pieces before his best ally came back in his hand.

"Thanks," you imitated his earlier tone and he saluted you, getting back to the fight with Thor. "After sixty-seven years, you didn't lose the move, Capsicle!" You winked and he shook his lightly, huffing an inevitable laugh.

You battled it out with the chitauri, your rage following every movement of your fingers dancing and destroying as you levitated, throwing ice blasts and Thor exploded the soldiers iced figures with his legendary lighting.

You three continued fighting like beasts on the dusty avenue until Steve got hit in the side and fell on the ground full of debris of buildings destroyed by the army around you. As Thor knocked a car into the oncoming chitauri, crushing them, you landed and checked on in the super soldier.

"You okay?" You placed a hand on his toned back and he put his fists on the ground, gaining back a steady breath before Thor helped him up as he grimaced and held his stomach

"You owe me ten bucks, Agent." Steve wheezed in a smile and you rolled your eyes, amused.

"You ready for another bout?" The Asgardian questioned, cutting into the conversation.

"What, you gettin' sleepy?"

 _'I can close it! Can anybody hear me?'_ Natasha called the team, _'I can shut the portal down!'_

"Do it!" Steve exclaimed.

 _'No, wait!'_ Tony interjected.

"Stark, these things are still coming!"

 _'I got a nuke coming in, it's gonna blow in less than a minute.'_ Your brother revealed and you all furrowed your brows in shock and anticipation. _'And I know just where to put it.'_

"Stark, you know that's a one way trip."

Understanding the crazy situation and what was about to happen, you pressed your earpiece, "Tony, don't do this," you tried to convince him. "You can't leave Pepper and Rhodey like this... you- you can't go without me!"

 _'Sorry, sweetie. You are not alone now.'_ He breathed shakily and you felt your heart twisting. _'I love you... and you know it's the right choice 'cause I have to do it.'_

"No, you don't!" You cried out, voice cracking. "Tony, _please_ don't do this, you're my only family."

You couldn't let this happen, the pain of loss had cost you too much in life and you just couldn't let your brother sacrifice himself without doing anything. As you were about to help him in any way you could, even if it meant to die with him and hurt your friends, you felt a pair of muscular arms pulling you off and you turned, watching as Thor tried to not look into your eyes urging him to release you from his grip.

"Y/N, this is his choice," Steve reasoned with you, trying to calm your boiling nerves. "You have to respect it."

You looked at him, seeing his pained blue eyes and you kept thrashing against Thor, hoping and pleading internally he would let you go. About to yell again, your dry lips fell closed when you saw Tony's famous suit carrying the white missile, using the last of the power he had and flying straight through the portal without even stopping.

As he disappeared into the cold nothingness of the galaxy, a few seconds later, every chitauri around you and inside the city collapsed dead on the ground. Staring at their lifeless bodies, you realized what had happened and the fact you won the battle, but it had already took you away everything, loosing another important man in your life, who meant the world to you.

As the hopes of seeing your only brother coming back alive from this universe slowly left your soul, you lowered your head and Thor tightened his grip around you, feeling you falling on your knees in pure desperation.

"Close it," Steve ordered, concluding the worst case scenario when his eyes didn't see what you wanted most.

"Natasha, no," you begged in tiny and weak whisper as you tried to free yourself from the strong Asgardian arms. "He's still in here."

Just as you heard the sky groaning when the wormhole began to close, you raised your watery gaze, noticing a speck made of red and gold falling off the sky at high speed.

"Sun of a gun," the super soldier murmured with a relieved smile and the blonde Prince finally let go of your waist as you gasped, heart beating fast and processing the moment.

"He's not slowing down," Thor twirled his hammer to get him back, but just before Tony would hit the ground, the Hulk snagged him out of the air and landed on the pavements of the avenue. You all rushed to the billionaire's sides and you took off your brother's helmet, yet he appeared to be dead.

"Tony?!" You knelt and shook his body with all your strength. "TONY!"

Receiving no positive answer, you all looked down one second of fear and the Hulk roared in such fury that the noise startled the billionaire awaken, gulping for air.

"What the hell?" He gasped and you instinctively hugged him with tears of joy in the corner of your eyes. "What just happened? Please tell me nobody kissed me."

"Nobody would, even for the half of our net worth," you laughed, kissing his cheek.

"We won," Steve announced and you finally breathed, releasing the pressure in your chest.

"Alright. Hey," Tony cheered with his iron fist up. "Alright. Good job, guys. Let's just not come in tomorrow. Let's just take a day. Have you ever tried shawarma? There's a shawarma joint about two blocks from here. I don't know what it is, but I wanna try it."

As he said those words, Steve crossed your gaze and you both laughed, remembering the day you showed him around New York City. Not even noticing, the rest stared at you like lost puppies and you eventually stopped, your emotional elevator having the last word.

"You'll be the death of me," you mused loudly, meeting Tony's sweet brown eyes.

"Y/N, I just came back from hell-"

"You put me on a roller coaster of emotions! You think you are going anywhere with this so easily? Nah, nah... Metal Man."

"Shawarma first... then, _eventually_ family drama."

"We're not finished yet," Thor interjected whilst looking at StarkTower.

"And then shawarma after."


	46. The Faster You Rise - (Avengers x Reader) 9/9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rating: Teens and Up  
> Summary: Reader has to answer the World Security Council's many questions about the Tesseract events and the Battle of New York before saying goodbye to the Avengers about to take the road.  
> Words Count: 1.7k  
> Warnings: swearing (you already know) and very, very tiny bit of angst.

_48 hours later - S.H.I.E.L.D. Interrogation Room, New York_

Sitting at a conference table with four screens in front of you, showing the World Security Councilmen and Councilwoman, you stayed in the dark lighted room with S.H.I.E.L.D.’s logo everywhere as you were heard by your superiors about your latest report.

Since you had successfully taken back the blue cosmic cube from Loki and threw him in the Helicarrier’s best jail, every S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who took part of the Tesseract events were heard, giving their views on their actions during this dramatic event that had lasted two days.

“You wanna know what went wrong about this horror, this catastrophe that could’ve been adverted. That’s what you wanna know?” You asked, from the other side of the table, looking sternly at the screens in front of you.

 _‘Well, people are dead, Agent Stark, somebody has to answer for that.’_ The councilman Gideon Malick said and you fought the urge to scoff.

“A lot of people have to.”

 _‘Nick Fury?’_ The councilwoman Hawley asked and you exhaled, shaking your head lightly. _‘You filed several reports criticizing Director Fury’s actions since you joined S.H.I.E.L.D.'_

“Because he’s reckless. The council ordered Phase 2 without even realizing what you were dealing with. _You_ also have to answer for that,” you bit, still angry and suspicious towards your boss and his superiors, who attracted Loki on earth without even knowing it.

 _‘Your father brought us the Tesseract seventy years ago when Captain Steve Rogers crashed into the ice,’_ the secretary Alexander Pierce notified, raising an eyebrow.

“Listen, Fury followed your orders. All I can say is he’s the _best_. I’ve criticized his way of work, yes, it was just _my_ opinion. You know better than anyone else, nobody agrees with me all the time. Doesn’t change the fact he’s the director we need.”

 _‘What do you think of the Avengers?’_ Malick asked, a hint of irritation in his tone due to your last answer as you knew he hadn’t the best relationship with Fury, but you were honest.

“I’m part of this team, sir. We’re here now and we made mistakes on our way to try to save people, but we did it. We may not be perfect, but I think we proved the world we’re the best qualified to defend it,” you smirked, laying your hands on the table. “Not like you did. Ordering a nuclear attack against our own country would’ve had worse consequences than that, don’t you think?”

 _‘What you are saying is out of context, Stark. We had no choice,’_ Hawley argued in her strong British accent. _‘Let’s come back to Fury. What you said in your last report about his Machiavellian behavior: page twenty-seven, paragraph four can be-'_

“You're reading specific selections of my report, Councilwoman. You do understand that reading a single paragraph out of context does not reflect the summary of my final-”

 _'You did not respond to the question, do you think Nicholas Fury also has to pay for the crimes committed by Loki?’_ Malick snapped, daring your mocking tone full of sarcasm he had heard so many times in the past.

“To sell out the Colonel is to sell out myself, which tantamount to indentured servitude or prostitution, depending on what state you're in.”

_'I'm expert in-'_

“In prostitution? Of course not, you're only a politician, come on!”

_'You do realize this council can release you from your contract with S.H.I.E.L.D. and end your career in the intelligence business!’_

“Oh, you can, but you won't. You know why?”

 _'Being the daughter of the late Howard Stark will not save you from a suspension,’_ Pierce tried to calm down the situation as you knew he considered your boss as a friend and he even had made him director himself.

“Then, go ahead. Do it! This is exactly what I say; you can’t suspend me because I’m an Avenger now, you _need_ us. We did you a _big_ favor back there; we've privatized world peace and even saved your asses’ warm seats and this agency from a certain end!”

* * *

 

   _Three days later - Central Park, Manhattan, NYC_

In the middle of Central Park, you gathered with Tony, Steve, Thor, Bruce, Clint and Natasha, saying your goodbyes as you waited for the Princes to leave your planet with the blue cosmic cube. As you talked to Thor, it took all your mental and physical strength to not jump on the occasion and kill Loki with your bare hands, but this moment was hard for you.

Having the man who killed Coulson two feet away from you when you’d planned the funerals to take place the next morning, felt like someone was continuously stabbing your back and laughing at your body chained by an invisible power keeping you away from vengeance.

“It was good to meet you, Thor,” you pulled him into a gentle hug that he transformed into a bear one, earning a first giggle in days. “I hope to see you soon.”

“I shall come back,” he let go of you, smiling. “And it was a pleasure to meet you too, Princess of fire.”

“I know it’s hard… and I can probably understand because… he’s still your brother after all,” you swallowed, looking up at the blonde Asgardian. “But, _please_ , do me a favor and tell Odin to make Loki pay in every way he can since I can’t do it myself.”

“When my father brought me on Midgard to search for Loki, I thought my brother was still in there somewhere… but that hope no longer exists.” Thor confessed with a bit of sadness in his velvet voice. “Y/N, cherish the time you live with Stark.”

Shifting your gaze to a heavily handcuffed Loki, you took a step closer to him and your hands grabbed the front of his suit tightly as you stood on your toes, approaching your lips to his ear.

“If you ever come back on earth, you can be _sure_ that even Odin’s mighty powers won’t protect you from me,” you whispered a dry threat between your teeth, showing your growing internal rage. “I will kill you.”

As Selvig finally gave the Tesseract to Thor, you stepped aside - between Bruce and Tony - not missing to glare at the brunette and you watched them both beamed into a blue charge of energy, bringing them back to Asgard.

For the next seconds, you stared up at the sky and when they had finished saying their goodbyes to the rest of the Avengers, you walked up to Natasha and Clint, standing by one of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s black cars.

“Don’t start another war without me,” you joked and wrapped your arms around them.

“Still sorry about happened.”

“I’m feeling good, Clint. I don’t have the bruises anymore.”

“Really?” Natasha referred to Phil and you shrugged a shoulder. “What will you do?”

“Not sure, I don’t like taking vacations, so non-stop working is the main priority,” you took a deep breath, dropping your hands in your pockets. “See you around.”

“After two months in your house in the Bahamas,” Clint chuckled, popping in the car with his best friend and you waved as he drove off the park before turning to Tony, talking with Bruce.

“Gentlemen,” you smiled and they moved their attention to you.

“Y/N,” the doctor held his hand and you accepted the handshake.

“Bruce, _personally_ , I think we can hug since I saw the other guy. It’s basically like seeing you naked.” The science bros coughed instantly and you saw the super soldier sitting by his motorcycle, waiting to say goodbye to you.

“Of all the men on this planet, you had to choose _him_ ,” your brother snapped and you frowned. “Don’t play the innocent girl, I know about this small crush you have on Rogers.”

“That’s ridiculous,” you laughed, eyes wide opened. “We are only friends.”

“So they always say.”

“Anthony, you are completely missing the point on this one,” you responded with all the truth.

“Don’t you Anthony me!”

“Of course, I do,” you retorted, starting another small argument over silly things as Bruce looked at you both like you were aliens back on earth. He caught himself asking if he had done the right thing by accepting Tony’s offer to move in and live in the Stark Tower.

Annoyed, your eyes fell back and you hugged your brother. “Just work on the new building with Pepper and I’ll visit you during the week, right?”

As Tony agreed in a groan and stepped aside, you walked up to Steve as he did so.

“Hey,” you smiled softly.

“How was the interrogation?”

“Interesting to say the least. Suspended for two weeks, could’ve been worse.” You both chuckled and the super soldier held out his hand, only you took him in your arms instead, placing your palms on his shoulder blades.

Due to your sudden move, Steve stiffened a bit, not knowing what to do, yet he soon relaxed, folding his strong arms around you and he hugged with the same confidence as yours.

“Take care, Steve.”

“I slept for seventy years; I think I've had my bill,” he smiled, holding you tight. “You take care, you deserve to rest.”

“Y/N, don’t flirt too much or we’ll have to put him back into the ice!” Tony laughed as he watched you both with Bruce and you wished you could punch him hard. You ignored the billionaire’s laugh and Steve’s glare as you broke away, looking at the Harley.

“Where are you going?”

“Maybe I need to see the country under a new look,” he shushed, glancing at your car. “What about you?”

“I don’t know really, I don't like not doing anything... or maybe I should watch after Tony and Bruce in the labs of the tower,” you quipped, yet a thin line found your lips in sorrow. “But first, I’ll attend Phil's funerals with his girlfriend Audrey, tomorrow in Washington.”

Steve mimicked your expression and stayed silent for a pleasant moment. “I'll keep in touch with you then, I have your number.”

“Yes, you'll do, but with this guy around,” you pointed at your brother, who was complaining about you with the scientist as he started his [not discreet] car, “I don't think it's a good idea.”

“I'll keep my distances.” Steve chuckled, turning his head to look back at you when they left.

“Hopefully not too far,” you whispered, patting your hand on his arm and you approached your vehicle parked not far away from you.

“Y/N?” Steve called, walking up to you and you turned around, humming in question. “I would like to go with you at Coulson's funerals and sign those cards.”

“It will be a great honor for him to have you there, Steve. Thank you,” you smiled gratefully and with a palm on his chest, you tipped on your toes, laying a gentle longing kiss on his cheek to which he smiled, blushing lightly.

“You still owe me money, Captain!” You reminded, opening your car and you winked before he raised his eyebrows. “I’d say that’s a great excuse to see you again.”


	47. Truth - (Clint Barton x Reader x Natasha Romanoff)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rating: Teens and Up  
> Summary: More than two months after the Battle of New York, Reader is mourning the death of Coulson, but she can't seem to understand his last words and that leaves her even more confused.  
> Words Count: 1.9k  
> Warning: swearing.

    _July 2012 - Mount Olivet Cemetery, Washington D.C._

As the bright sun hit your skin on a hot day of summer, you stood in front of Coulson’s grave and remembered every moment you shared with your role model, your support and your mentor. During all those years with S.H.I.E.L.D., he had always been there for you and here you were, staring at two words graved deeply into the gray stone: _beloved friend_.

Those thoughts were washed away when the last words he had told you came back to your mind, repeating over and over again like it couldn’t stop until you unveiled the mystery: _I’m sorry about your parents, Y/N. I could’ve done more._ This phrase couldn’t seem to leave you like the usual pain of grief stayed with your body.

Slowly taking off your sunglasses, you chuckled humorlessly while reading the inscription on his grave, thinking after all this time being the best; they’d only called him a ‘beloved friend’ and that left a bitter taste.

“I miss you, Phil,” you said, looking down to the flowered grass. “Everything seems a lot more confusing without you, especially at S.H.I.E.L.D. with their secrets… I know, if you were there you’d tell me to trust our agency and we are the good guys… I get it, I just- I just… uh, I can’t shake this feeling it’s our fault if I can’t see you today. Even more than Loki’s.”

“Oh, I also got your damn cards signed by Steve,” you held them tight in your hands and kept the tears in your eyes. “Actually, I never told you, but you were like a father since Howard died. But now dad, mom and you are all gone… I guess every time I’m this close to someone, they have to leave.”

“You shouldn’t do this to yourself, Frosty,” Clint surprised you, putting a hand on your shoulder and you wiped away the single drop of water on your cheek, not wanting to appear weak in front of your friends as you were taught, before you put back on your sunglasses.

“He’s right. It’s a pure torture; Coulson would’ve wanted you to move on.”

“I didn’t get revenge and I miss him,” you confessed to Natasha standing next to you.

“I know, we all do. Now, we’re here because we are your friends.” The spies hugged you and you all stayed silent for a long moment, enjoying each other’s presence. When you told them you were feeling a little better, you began to walk outside the cemetery to your cars.

“I feel like something’s very weird,” you admitted.

“What?” Natasha asked.

“Phil’s last words. He said he was sorry about my family… what’s that supposed to mean?”

“Maybe he felt guilty about what happened twenty years ago,” Clint suggested.

“No, he didn’t even meet my parents. It’s been months that I think about it and maybe he was talking about my birth parents,” you theorized and looked at your puzzled best friends.

“It’s not making sense, why would he do that?” The archer asked, raising his eyebrows.

“Because, as you said, he felt guilty. I want to know more about it.”

“Wait, you told us you don’t care about them,” Natasha stopped in her tracks and you imitated. “You always said that they never meant anything to you.”

“Yeah, I still…uh, I- I don’t know… something’s different now. I’m sure he was trying to tell me a detail about this,” you shrugged and looked at your car a few seconds. “I’m just confused. I need answers, and I know exactly how to get them.”

“Y/N, you know what will happen if you do this,” Natasha looked at you dead serious.

“Phil always said: _trust the system_ , but I don’t know if they are trustworthy anymore,” you claimed, opening your car. “One way or another, I’ll get information from my files.”

“Then, I will help you,” Clint smiled. “Partners in crime.”

“I can’t ask you to do this, Leggy. You know what we’ll be risking a second time, it’s our job.”

“I’m in too, you have the right to know if he was talking about your parents,” Natasha finished, joining Clint’s plan. “It’s not like we were always following the rules, though.”

***

   _The Triskelion, Washington D.C._

As you sat on a corner of the building’s cafeteria, you opened your laptop after you had secured a channel of your earpieces with Natasha and Clint. Your clearance couldn’t let you have access to certain files, including your personal, so you counted on your best friends’ help to hack the Triskelion mainframe like you had done in the past.

“Okay, you have the flash drive. I programmed it with a decoy crawler,” you whispered while Clint walked to the level 9 restricting hallways to plug in the drive, which would allow you to get into your own file. “It'll use my browser history to simulate my online activity, so while S.H.I.E.L.D. thinks I'm trolling Facebook with the laptop Nat gave me-”

 _‘You'll be hacking your files. Right,’_ the archer cut in and finished.

“Remember, once you plug it in, I’ll have less than two minutes before they catch on,” you paused, acting casually when Sharon came in, smiling at you in greet as she took her coffee mug. “This is actually a bit thrilling,” you confessed under a laugh when she left the room.

_‘Ah, good, I'm glad. Now, we've just got to figure out a way to get the panel open.’_

“Yeah, I’ll work-”

 _'Y/N, my meeting with Hill and Fury starts now, it will give you time.’_ The redhead interrupted in a murmur, _‘I just made something special; the panel must be open now.'_

“Thanks.”

 _‘I found the USB port and plugged in the flash drive,’_ Clint described his actions and stopped abruptly. _‘Okay, Sitwell is heading my way, I’ll distract him.’_

“All right, Phil. Let’s find out what you were talking about,” you connected your laptop and accessed to S.H.I.E.L.D.’s databases, opening your personal file. You clicked on your family statuses and a white file with the agency’s logo appeared, stating what already knew: _Y/N Stark, adopted in November 1986 by Howard Anthony Walter Stark, former S.H.I.E.L.D. Director and Maria Collins Carbonell Stark, philanthropist._

“Okay, guys, there is nothing on my own file, but I think I can get more.”

 _‘Y/N, you have one minute,’_ Natasha whispered and you began to tap faster on the keyboard.

You closed your ‘family statuses’ tab and opened the ‘redacted documents’ one. As the page opened on the screen, you couldn’t read anything except the code name: **_Susan_** written in bold letters. Everything was redacted in black and you could only notice S.H.I.E.L.D.’s red seal with written ‘ _ **Classified Level 9** ,’ on the top right, leaving you even more confused._

As you kept reading the female name again and again, you couldn’t find why it was specifically mentioned in your file. You didn’t know any Susan working for S.H.I.E.L.D., not even a friend of your family wore this name. You concluded it was a classified mission, or maybe it was the name of your birth mother.

“There it is, Nat. If I could just access the raw file,” you searched for the right one, but there was nothing more about you, except your mission reports and other classical information.

 _‘Y/N, you have ten seconds to turn off the laptop,’_ Natasha warned and you clenched your fists into balls, still reading pages quickly. _‘They are starting to get suspicious here.’_

“Crap,” you closed the laptop and sighed heavily as you looked down at the table, this little investigation leaving you more lost than earlier. Without even noticing, you stayed in this position for long minutes while your mind hardly worked on a way to get the raw files you needed and finally put an end to your light doubts about your work in this agency.

“So, what did you find?” Natasha came into the cafeteria, sitting in front of you and you sighed as you raised your head, massaging your temples.

“Nothing except the word: Susan, but I don’t know if it’s a mission name or a code,” you stood from your chair and poured two cups of coffee. “If we can do it again, I could-”

“Y/N, they are looking for the person who accessed the Triskelion’s mainframe,” she accepted the hot drink with a smile and you took a long sip of yours. “We can’t do it again, at least not right now.”

“She’s right,” Clint walked in and settled beside you. “Sitwell was there to see what was going on with the panel. Had to use an excuse to get him out.”

“Uh, Y/N, looks like Fury summons you to his office,” Natasha drawled after she took your phone that vibrated, signaling you had received a text message from Hill.

“You’re screwed,” Clint chuckled, taking your cup and your head fell backwards.

“Thanks for the support, guys. It was great working with you.”

***

In a matter of minutes, you found yourself in the gray hallway leading to Fury’s office and without even knocking as you knew he was already waiting for you, you entered inside and there he was, sitting on his chair and staring out at the window.

“What did Phil Coulson used to tell you?”

“He told me to trust the system,” you responded bitterly, standing straight in front of the desk with your hands connected behind your back.

“Like your brother, you are a pretty good hacker, but we have some of the best in the world among us,” Fury stood up and walked to the window, still back to you. “You wanted to get details about your family.”

“But it seems that's a classified operation.”

“You don't have the clearance to know that.”

“I know what S.H.I.E.L.D.'s all about. Level 5s are more expendable than level 8 or 9! But is that all we are, just a number to you?” You barked and as he felt annoyed, your boss turned to you with that usual cold stoic face.

“Are you done?”

“I don't know, am I?”

“If S.H.I.E.L.D. keeps a secret from you, it's for a damn good reason.”

“So, they can hold all the secrets for our own good, but-”

“Don't interrupt!” He put his hands on the desk, clearly pissed off. “You just hacked a level-9 secure server, saw operational plans that you have no context for. If details get out, a whole operation could be compromised, lives could be lost!”

“I know my job! That’s why I didn’t open these files; I was looking for _my_ answers!”

“You once claimed you wanted to be a part of that, a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. Did you mean it?”

“Of course.”

“Right, because someday I may have to trust you with a bigger secret than what I already told you, and I need to know that you can keep it,” he said colder than ever and you looked away.

As your brain rushed with all the information coming from every side of your mind; Coulson and his support, the anger provoked by the Tesseract events and the fact you’d dedicated your whole life to your father’s legacy that was S.H.I.E.L.D., you finally thought maybe Fury was right and you couldn’t let this sad episode get on your nerves.

When you’d signed, you knew where you were about to embark: in a world full of lies, secrets, compromises and suspicions even with your closest friends. If you began to doubt about your own employer that was doing the right things, then why would stay here, you thought.

If Phil had known something about your biological family, he would’ve had surely told you.

“Sir, can I ask you one question?” You asked, after a very long pause between the Director’s last words and yours.

“What?” Fury snapped and sat back on his chair, trying to put an end to the conversation that led to nowhere.

“What is ‘Susan?”

“That's classified.”


	48. Support II - (Steve Rogers x Reader)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rating: Teens and Up  
> Summary: Since the Battle of New York, Steve has become an adviser for S.H.I.E.L.D. in war and political crises. He practically spends all his time working with the agency as a simple consultant and Reader - who wants to take a break from the assignments - finally get to share some time with the super soldier in Manhattan to relax a bit.  
> Words Count: 2.1k  
> Warning: light swearing.

    _September 2012 -_ _Manhattan_ _, NYC_

“See? Taking a break from work is good after all… took me ten years to realize this,” you raised an eyebrow at the man you had finally gotten to step away from S.H.I.E.L.D. for a day when the sun had finished setting, letting the sky be covered by the stars for the hours coming your way.

“Is this something you do with all your friends?” Steve asked, swallowing his bite as you stood beside a food-truck, both eating some hot-dogs.

“Just a few, actually,” you responded, mouth full of bread and he chuckled quietly. “I love this city so much that I need to share the best places with interesting people.”

Sung by Franck Sinatra, U2 or Jay Z, New York City was not unknown, even to the ones who visited it for the first time, just like Steve with whom you had spent long hours, strolling between the avenues of Manhattan. Of course, the super soldier knew New York, because after all, he had always lived in Brooklyn, but what you made him discover was quite new despite the still fresh ruins and wounds of the Battle of New York.

Between laughs and wide eyes with a touch of MSG, Guggenheim, Central Park and the top of the Empire State Building, in a day you had visited other unmissable symbols of New York that Steve hadn't had the opportunity to see rise. However, the tourist side of the tour was quickly abandoned for a funnier and less crowded moment, showing him the best little bars and restaurants in your neighborhood as well as the only quiet places to relax.

Despite his unusual story, Steve was glad to spend more time in the modern streets of _the city that never sleeps_ because he had decided not to remain isolated in the past, at least as long as he could. Sometimes, he still had some apprehension about several things, but you stayed patient and didn’t shake him, telling him to wake up to watch the good things around him, yet those moments were rare because your jobs took all your time.

“The funniest tour was with Matt, a lawyer I met a few years ago,” you laughed as you recalled the joyful moments with your friend.

“Why was it so funny?”

“He's blind,” you blurted out and he almost choked as he finished the hot-dog. “It was the good times in Hell's Kitchen... no alien invasion.”

Steve managed to smile, wiping away his mouth and you imitated. “I should probably do the same for Brooklyn. The spirit of liberty-”

“Brooklyn is like the cradle of liberty, its very own spirit is found in its people,” you cut him off, leaving him with his lips parted as you repeated exactly what he had in mind. “After the war, dad told me a story about a pretty crazy Southern girl he’d met at the Griffith Hotel- a boarding house for women… she wanted to visit the real New York.”

“Howard… no need to imagine how this ended,” he mumbled loud enough.

“Nope, spare yourself, Steven,” you smiled and passed a hand through your hair as the warm wind hit you. “Come on, let's go. Another stop waits for us.”

“We're just getting comfortable,” the super soldier remarked and you tried to push his toned back, making him smile jovially as he didn’t even move an inch.

“I know you are. Come on, Dorito, it's New York. Now, hustle.”

Ignoring Steve’s blue eyes narrowing, you held a giggle and led the way through the streets of Manhattan, pointing at strategic spots where you’d created some memories with either your brother or your friends. Despite the Tesseract events, the city recovered slowly and had begun the reconstructions everybody had waited for. The trauma was still livid in your hometown, but you’d chosen to move on, remembering that life was around you.

As you were too focused on enjoying another laugh in the night where the city was most active, a man pushed your shoulder and you almost tripped and fell if it wasn’t for a certain blonde haired sweetheart holding you before you could hit the ground.

“Hey, watch where you walk, you idiot!” You shouted at the man, who quickly walked away from you, disappearing in the street and leaving you still held in Steve’s arms. “Whoops, sorry,” you smiled, released from the gentle grip and walking down the 7th Avenue

“Careful.”

“My last word will probably be either: _whoops_ or _shit_ ,” you laughed. “Another thing you need to know, in modern Manhattan, everybody just kind of walks wherever they want.”

“I'll keep it in mind.”

Almost the apotheosis of your evening in town, Times Square. So much seen and re-seen, on television, in photos or in the movies that Steve felt like he had always known this neighborhood since he'd woken up. Yet, in reality, it was completely different, there was such animation, such intensity, so many lights. Disguised figures, tourists, New Yorkers, yellow taxis, billboards, these were the best shows of New York in your eyes.

“Y/N, you're showing me Times Square, I've been here a lot of times, you know. This is not touristy at all,” Steve used sarcasm as he liked and you both stopped in your tracks, looking at the growing animation around you.

“Would you shush?”

You smirked, the lights of the televisions everywhere, hitting your faces and when the flash news appeared, showing the video archives of the Battle of New York, the slight happiness disappeared from your faces as you saw the desolation you had been part of.

“I’m sorry… I didn’t-”

“It's all right,” the super soldier muttered, stepping away from the middle of the street and you knew this only reminded him he was made to fight and not enjoy free time when people were dead. He hardly went out without being followed by his admirers and now _this_ happened.

“Steve, I know what you're doing. You can’t only stay focused on your work with S.H.I.E.L.D.,” you said, following his long and fast steps and he put his hands in his pockets, head up. “Believe me, I have been there. You cannot fill your life with this. It will kill you.”

“I'm just doing my job, Y/N. That's why you thawed me out for, isn't it?”

“You wanna be back on ice, is that it? Because that's where you're headed.” You stepped in front of him, stopping him from walking any further and he met your eyes with fierce. “Why are you such a mess?”

“I'm fine, really.”

“No, you're not… why do you think I brought you here with me today? You need R and R like anyone else.”

“I'm a super soldier!”

“You're a man!” You lowered your voice as some people stared at you. “Now be straight with me… why are you dodging the downtime?”

“I'd just rather keep busy, that's all.”

“You got something against having a life; it hurts less when you're fighting, doesn't it?”

“You don't know, Y/N.”

“You’re wrong; I know exactly how you feel right now. They say it shouldn’t be our burden, but it’s false. I know that you are afraid of peace because the moment you have it, a normal life seems within your grasp… and you don't want to lose that again.”

You lay a hand on his arm gently, making him look into your eyes and he tried to hear your words and process them, but he thought the war was within him and retiring or enjoying some time off wasn’t something he had planned, even when he was still living in his time.

“Listen, you got the right to be a little screwed up after a seventy-year deep freeze, but that's the past. You defeated Hydra, we killed the Chitauri and we made the world safe again. I think it’s time for you to start letting go.”

“I know what I have to do; I always knew what I wanted to do with my life… but now…,” he shushed, looking away and he cursed lightly under his breath. “The field is what I need.”

“You wanna know why Coulson liked you so much?” You questioned and took him by surprise. “He liked the fact your personality embraced so much the costume, but he also knew that you are _so much_ _more_ than this stupid propaganda. He knew you’d dedicate your life to do what you believe in because this is how you see it and how you were raised.”

“People _need_ heroes, they need to feel safe and we became this group representing this ideal. They made the Avengers heroes,” you pointed at the crowd around, remembering what exactly had pushed your team to finally assemble. “We both know it's a lot to take on, but we did it. You are not perfect, yet you are meant to do that: stand and fight. And whether I get hurt or whether I die, you are a man I'm willing to follow.”

As you said those words, Steve finally raised his gaze, searching for the honesty in your eyes and he knew you’d meant everything you had said. You stared at each other, your breath heaving as your chest rose with each inhalation and your lips curved into a warm smile, telling you’d be here for him and you understood how he felt at this moment.

The guilt had become something you had to deal with in your career and as a soldier; he realized you both had to make some room in your life for this sentiment. Yet, it was your job and you knew what you’d both signed up for years ago. Post traumatic stress disorder or not, he finally felt it was probably time to take another step in his new life.

“Thank you.”

“It’s okay… I know how to cheer you up,” you soothed as a small smile finally crept up onto his face. “Do you want to see something really cool?”

***

On the rooftop of the 101 Park Avenue building, only five minutes away from your own apartment in the Stark Tower, you lay on the ground next to Steve and stared up at the sky. By your sides, he placed his arm under his head and fluttered his eyes closed, exhaling like he had never done in months.

A beam curled your lips as you only listened to the silence and focused on the sound of his reassuring steady breathing next to you, bringing a perfect final point to a whole day spent with him. You inhaled the fresh air of the last days of summer and for a long quiet pause, you admired the stars shining bright and the unnoticeable details of a lovely night in Manhattan.

“Only place in the city you can actually see the stars,” you whispered.

“Wow.”

“Yeah, even from our tower, we don’t have this view… don’t repeat Tony I told you this.”

“Promise,” he murmured, and you turned your face to him, noting for the first time how beautiful this gentle smile softened his tired features. You felt yourself captivated and couldn’t help, but keep your eyes on him like you had opened them on this day and saw _him_.

“I like to come up here to think. Just when it gets a little too much for me down there, it's like... it's like my New York version of a mountaintop. Best part: no cell reception, so no S.H.I.E.L.D. at all,” you laughed lightly. “Fury would fire me if he heard.”

“You take all your friends up here as well?” He asked, crossing your eyes.

“Actually, never really taken anyone up here. You’re my first.”

“Really?” He raised an eyebrow and you nodded, imitating teasingly. “Thanks.”

“If you tell anyone about this, I will rip your ears off and staple them to your neck.”

“Hell, everyone in this city seems _so_ violent these days.”

“Aw, I am so sorry, _sir_. Did I hurt America's sweetheart feelings?” You faked the suggestive poor damsel in distress as you rested on your forearms, looking down at him. “Did I _really_ hurt the Living Legend and Symbol of Courage?”

Steve propped up on his elbows with wide eyes and in a few seconds of silent eye contact, you burst out into laughter, bringing a hand to your chest. Two seconds passed and he couldn’t contain himself anymore, he finally mimicked you and your laugh slowly faded away, enjoying the sweet melody of his lungs running out of breath for the first time ever.

“Very funny, hilarious even.” He shook his head, smiling and your shoulder gave him a little nudge as you stuck your tongue playfully. “Your Stark is showing, Y/N.”

“Always such a pleasure to spend some time with you, Captain Rogers.”


	49. Bonding - (Steve Rogers x Reader)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rating: Teens and Up  
> Summary: After Steve has shared a lunch with Reader, she finds some marvelous drawings he has hidden and she asks him to teach her how to draw like him.  
> Words Count: 2.3k  
> Warnings: none!

    _November 2012 - Steve’s apartment, Brooklyn, New York_

“Okay, so Indian food isn’t really your thing. We won’t order it, next time,” you laughed

“This thing’s good but definitely too spicy for me.” Steve put a hand on his stomach and when you were about to throw his meal in the trash, he rushed to the kitchen and took the plate from your hands.

“What’s wrong?” You asked and lay the pieces of cutlery in the sink with your own plate.

“Don’t put it in the trash; I don’t waste food when people in this world are dying of hunger.”

“Whoa- whoa Mr. Righteousness, what will you do with this now?” You put your hands on your hips as he wrapped the plate with the cellophane and he placed it in the fridge.

“I’m gonna eat it for dinner,” he responded with the same tone you’d used and laughed quietly as your eyes fell back.

As it was natural, you went to your new friend’s apartment, showing him everything about the twenty-first century as you had promised. Steve had been quite reluctant at the beginning because he was ashamed to depend on someone, but gradually, he realized you only wanted to help him and not judge him.

The super soldier was very curious about everything in this new culture. Many things had shocked because - in sixty-seven years - customs had changed and were not the same at all. He tried to understand, but sometimes he felt homesick and when he was lost, you let him have his moment alone with his memories as companions, respecting this part of him.

Some other times, it was even him that taught you some things about his time. You secretly liked to notice the wonderful sparkle in his blue eyes. It highlighted the touches of green in the irises whenever he would tell you about his old Brooklyn and his friends there.

“Y/N, be honest with me, how many times have you washed the dishes before?” Steve asked, putting the dishes under the water, after he had watched you unsuccessfully rubbing away a resistant stain.

“Uh, I try to avoid this situation. So, I’d say maybe two… or three times.” You shrugged a shoulder, drying your hands and this surprised look stayed glued to his face. “I’ve been adopted by billionaires! We had Jarvis at home doing this stuff and now, all of my houses have magic devices called: dishwashers.”

“Three times, you can’t be serious,” Steve laughed and you sent him a glare. “Jarvis is the British soldier, who worked for Howard, isn’t he?”

“Yeah, Edwin was so handsome at that time,” you mused loudly, looking up as you remembered his young face again. “Dad met him during the war when you were on the French front I think... He quickly became our butler and a very close ally. He had this father-son relationship with Tony when he was younger. This is why our favorite A.I. and friend is called Just A Rather Very Intelligent System… J.A.R.V.I.S.”

“I shouldn’t be surprised, but I still am.”

“Anyway.” You ignored his thought. “Just saying that as a spy _and_ billionaire, I don’t have time for this, so I pay someone to do all the cleaning and that’s it.”

“I’m not judging, it was just… fun seeing you fighting with this little spoon.” The super soldier raised his eyebrows and you giggled softly, tilting your head to the side.

“Hey, where is the kitchen rag?” You asked and he pointed at one of the drawers behind your back whilst he dried the dishes.

As you searched in the drawer on your right, you spotted dozens of papers lying inside. Your curiosity piqued, you took a closer look at some pretty sketches and gorgeous finished drawings depicting natural landscapes, Brooklyn and some WWII key moments.

“What is this? You didn't tell me you had all these drawings.” You smiled, turning your head in the super soldier’s direction. Yet, when he saw the papers in your hands, he took them back.

“No, it’s nothing important. Just some stuff from the past,” he gulped and slipped between you and the counter.

“C’mon, Captain, you know I won’t make fun of you,” you coaxed, seeing the embarrassment in his eyes and he bit his lower lip. “Do you trust me?”

“Uh- yeah, I… I-” Steve rubbed the back of his neck and didn’t miss the hurt lines on your face features. “Yes, I do, Y/N. I trust you.”

“Then you know I’m not trying to be mean.” You kicked a brow and he gave you the sketches and the rest waiting in the drawer with a smile. “These are beautiful! Why don't you spend more time on them?”

“I'm too busy.”

“Steve, you're S.H.I.E.L.D.'s adviser on crisis and war, not an agent _yet_. You have time.”

“Right, you got me,” he chuckled and waited for your reactions as your gaze lay on new magnificent drawings. The last time he had felt something pretty close to this nervousness was when he had gone alone in Washington D.C. He had taken this opportunity to visit Peggy for the first time in seventy years, not very long after Loki’s attack on earth.

At this moment, Steve realized you seemed to be one of the rare people he truly trusted since he had woken up. Slowly recovering, the Battle of New York and S.H.I.E.L.D.’s questionable behavior had created some suspicions towards the world and its leaders, yet he tried not to judge on one action.

It wasn’t the same anymore. He began to think that even if the war and being a soldier still affected his personal life - following orders and giving his trust to people who always had secrets wasn’t so easy anymore. He saw things this way because he had grown up in a world where everything was either black or white, where he knew what was right and wrong.

However, since the Second World War, there was this blurry and gray area with a lot of doubtful compromises he had to deal with now. Here, you tried to stay impartial and honest whenever he asked. You knew that hiding something from this man was impossible as his eyes always gave this disappointed look that formed a crinkle between his eyebrows.

“Have you ever thought about being an artist?” You asked, following Steve back in the living room with the drawings. He placed two cups of coffees on the table as you both sat on either side of the couch and faced each other.

“I have. I studied a year in Auburndale Art School in this neighborhood, but I had to stop 'cause I couldn't afford another year.”

“What happened?” You brought the cup to your lips and took in a long slip.

“My mother died.”

“I'm sorry.” You nipped your bottom lip between your teeth and he shook his head, saying you couldn’t have known.

“Everything has become tougher since then, so I had to quit to get more money.” He sipped from his coffee and looked at a photo of his parents on the fireplace. “I took a job as newspaper boy until I decided to give a sense to my life and serve as every man back then. I got no right to do any less than them... I tried hard and then, I found Dr. Erskine, who gave me a chance.”

“And then I know the story,” you chuckled and drank your cup until you saw a particular sketch among all these you had on your lap. “Is that you before the serum?”

“I think so,” Steve responded with a new shyness.

You recognized the same warm sandy blonde hair brushed to the side, this chiseled jaw and those pink full lips. There was this discreet smile curling them and his face held a quite timid expression as if he had no idea how to draw himself without seeming arrogant.

Everything on his face was the same as you had him facing you, except his skinny figure: the way his large white shirt was supported by the black and red suspenders made him look lost in this amount of fabric. This tie around his neck almost seemed too big compared to the rest, but it was Steve. You could tell the serum hadn’t changed a thing in his heart or in his mind, it was just his body envelope that had gotten bigger and you wished you had met this little guy before.

“You are adorable, Steve.” You smiled, looking at the paper and him back and forth. “This is crazy how you’ve managed to put the same look in the eyes and the nose is perfect.”

“It’s from that day when we worked on self-portraits.”

“It’s… it’s amazing. I’m so impressed by this soft side of yours.”

“Thanks.” He finished his coffee. “You know, it’s up to anyone. You just have to be serious and put a lot of work on it.”

“Wanna bet? I can’t even draw a simple dog; it’ll look like a butterfly or something.”

“Y/N, I wasn’t born with a pencil in my hand, I learned and you could too.”

“Okay, give me a sketchbook and I’ll prove you for the first time of your life you are wrong.”

“Sure.” He smirked lightly, taking this as an innocent challenge. He finally had gotten to know your personality a little better since that time you had spent together in the cabin months prior.

In a few seconds, Steve came back from his bedroom at the other side of the apartment and gave you everything you needed. He sat closer to you this time and with a sly smile, you turned your back, not giving him a chance to see what you were drawing.

The super soldier chuckled, waiting patiently for you to finish as you almost had jumped on his sketchbook. As minutes passed in his clock hanging above the dinner table, you scratched on the paper with all the seriousness you could. You tried your best to recreate every feature of a person you missed, a person you loved the most.

“Done!” You smiled and turned back to Steve, who faked to have fallen asleep, sinking into the leather couch.

You knocked on his forehead, earning a slight groan and laughed, still enjoying this funny side of his you only witnessed on rare occasions. You lay the sketchbook on his thighs and let him stare at the paper for long seconds of tortuous suspense.

“Is it Maria?” The super soldier questioned with this hesitant expression.

“Yes!” You beamed, looking at the sketch. “At least you recognized my mother, so I feel incredibly honored.”

“I remember the same pose in this photo you have on your piano at Stark Tower.”

“You seem to remember everything by a simple glance,” you teased.

“Professional experience.”

“This professional experience is also why you are an artist and I’m not, Captain Obvious.” You snapped your fingers as an idea popped into your mind. “Why don’t you teach me?”

“What do you mean?”

“It’d be cool if you could give me a few tips and all.”

“Uh, yeah, sure.” Steve inched closer to you until his knee brushed yours and he took the pencil in his hand. As he began to draw a simple, feminine figure mimicking your mother, he also told you how to recreate the curves without trying to be idealistic and _stay_ realistic.

Your eyes followed the fluid movements of his hand on the paper like he was performing a dance and your ears lost their hearing when your gaze went to up to his face. It was like everything slowly became blurry around you both as you focused on the way this crease between his eyebrows. It made him look so serious when he was doing a thing he liked.

A warm smile graced your features as you admired his profile and you remembered how much seeing him relaxed and peaceful always brought an unexpected touch of happiness to the few free days spent with him.

“Y/N?” Steve called, waving at you as you were lost in admiration and caught off guard.

“How do you do the shades?” You coughed and took back a serious look.

“It’s easy, you just gotta play with the...” He stopped talking when you already narrowed your eyes. “…you mind if I take your hand? I mean, it’s… it’s just for the lesson and of course, you- you don’t have-”

“It’s okay, take it.” You gave him your palm, mentally noting how cute and lovely he looked whenever he acted like a gentleman as he was physically so close to a woman in years.

The super soldier smiled and you took the pencil in your hand before he enveloped his larger one around yours, using your fingers to draw. “So, you play with the lights to give this effect, the hard and soft edges are important too just like the shadows.”

As you felt his breath landing on the skin of your neck every time he turned his head to speak close to you, goosebumps made an appearance all over your surface. Once again, your brain decided to stay focused on the soft contact of his warm skin on yours and how much it felt right at this moment. In an instant, you swallowed and tried to avoid his so beautiful baby blue eyes that had you unconsciously captivated.

You internally fought the new feeling you couldn’t have predicted months ago and you turned away from the sketchbook, raising your gaze. That was when you saw _her_. Your fingers loosened their grasp around the pencil, dropping it as your eyes stared at a photo of Peggy on the fireplace. It was like something invisibly powerful had hit you at this moment.

“Hey, you all right, Y/N?” Steve asked with this concern in his tone and you shifted your attention to him. You forced a smile and you moved away, giving more space between you.

“Yes, I’m fine… I just remembered something very important.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All I can say right now is, I hope you like slooow burn fics...


	50. Plot Twit - [Prologue]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pairing: Tony Stark x Sister!Reader  
> Featuring: Aldrich Killian, Happy and Maya Hansen  
> Rating: Teens and Up  
> Summary: Reader remembers what was her exact role during the infamous 1999 New Year's Eve party in Switzerland.  
> Series: Y/N Stark: An Avenger Story  
> Words Count: 1.8k  
> Warnings: some cursing, one mention of alcohol and some innuendos because you know who Tony was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, everyone! I am finally back! I'm so sorry you had to wait longer than what I initially told you, but I was very busy and I kind of went through a small writer's block, so I had to step back from writing to come back stronger. Now, I'm here and I promise you to not do this again because I'm very invested in this fanfiction I love so much. Again, this is a "mini-series" involving Tony and his sister during the events of Iron Man 3. Enjoy and thank you so much for your support! xx

“A famous man once said: _we create our own demons_. Who said that? What does that even mean? Didn't matter. I said it ‘cause he said it. So, now, he was famous and that’s basically getting said by two well-known guys... I don't, uh... I'm gonna start again. Let's track this from the beginning… It started in Bern, Switzerland. 1999. The old days. I never thought they'd come back to bite me. Why would they?”

***.* Flashback *.***

   _1999 New Year’s Eve - Bern, Switzerland, Europe_

The deafening sound of the party held several floors below your bed could be heard inside the enormous hotel suite you shared with your brother. As Tony prepared himself to be late - like he always appreciated - for the New Year's celebration, you dragged your feet up to his own bedroom and jumped on the large mattress, ready to pout and whine for the last time.

“Please, Tony!”

“No, we’ve discussed it. You’re too young,” your brother announced still in the bathroom.

“I’m fifteen!”

“Y/N.”

“Okay… I’m _almost_ fifteen, but come on; it’s New Year’s Eve. The deal was to attend with you the conferences so that I can go to the party.”

“Don’t make me regret bringing you here with me.” He finally stepped out of the en-suite and you held a laugh, seeing his look while he desperately tried to tie his necktie. “You only begged me to come with me ‘cause Hank Pym’s nephew was supposed to be here!”

“You brought me here because Rhodey was too busy to take care of me while you’d be away… _right_.” You pretended to surrender as you walked up to him, seeing his hands still struggling with the necktie. “You can’t live without me,” you giggled, and finally tied the blue material around his neck the way he liked.

“You’ve grown up so fast,” Tony mused, smiling proudly and you pressed your lips together.

“Yeah, it’s crazy, I got a year older since the last time you said it.” You followed him inside the suite as he headed to the front door. “Can I join the celebration?”

“Nope!” He grinned and touched his tie several times before he eventually got rid of it. “You know what, no tie for tonight… Have fun, sweetie!”

When Tony left you alone with Happy surely following him, you flopped down onto a couch but didn’t surrender at all. You wanted to attend this party, then you would. The absence of the three people always protecting you represented by your brother, Rhodey and Happy, was the best way to sneak out of the suite to go inside that party.

Makeup, short dress, high heels, and jewels on, you took the elevator and you followed the crowd gathering in the hotel’s hallways with a name tag attached to your dress: _You don’t know who I am… yet._ When the place of the New Year’s celebration finally revealed itself to your sight, you walked faster, only to be stopped by a bouncer at the entrance.

“You can’t come in,” the tall man barked and crossed his arms with a stern expression.

“Hey, do you even know who I am? I’m Y/N Stark. I can come here!”

“Yeah, and I’m the real King of England!” The guard joked and you thought about bringing a palm to your face.

“Oh, no you’re not and that’s why I can tell you haven’t graduated.”

“ _What_?”

“There’s no King in the UK, dumbass!”

When he didn’t move an inch, you maintained eye contact and began to slowly walk backward. As you turned around, a blonde man with long hair and a cane stepped in front of you with an enthusiastic smile that made him look like a psychopath, you thought.

“Are you Tony Stark’s sister?” The man asked and you nodded, still unsure if it was the right moment to use the moves you had learned at the karate club. “My name’s Aldrich Killian and I’d like to meet your brother; I’m a big fan of his work.”

“And?” You questioned the obvious, but the man didn’t seem to understand before a moment.

“Oh, yeah! I’ve tried to talk to him and Ms. Hansen, but they seem pretty busy with the conferences and everything. I thought you could help me.” He smiled and you looked at the bouncer and him back and forth when a great idea popped into your mind.

“Okay, dude,” you whispered and both walked back to the entrance of the ballroom. “You make me walk into the party and you can meet my brother… deal?”

“Deal!” Killian laughed with a new enthusiasm. The opportunity was too great not to take it, so as a proud member of the Stark family, you dared to reface the bouncer and this time he let you in as you were accompanied by an older person.

“I’ve told you, Aldrich! Wait for us outside!” You shouted in the blonde’s direction. He accepted gladly, leaving you alone in the crowded ballroom where you began to dance, carefully hiding from your brother, and also avoiding every type of alcohol.

While the hours passed faster and faster, you enjoyed the loud and good music as the DJ tried to warm up the people dancing. The many spotlights flashed on the dance floor and you moved your body like never before with a ridiculous _Happy New Year_ hat on your head.

“Hey- oh,  _you_! Stop!” A familiar voice seemed to call out, but you ignored cautiously, swaying your hips. “Y/N Stark!” Happy yelled again and sank into the audience, grabbing your arm.

“Don’t tell Tony!” You immediately shouted throughout the music.

“You are supposed to stay in your room!” The bodyguard yelled back and made you leave the dance floor. “How did you even get in here?”

“Lots of makeup, high heels and… I stuffed my bra.”

“Y/N.”

“Okay, okay, I stay with you… but please don’t tell Tony.” You pleaded and looked over him, spotting your brother with another brunette, who was yet another cause of your new silly tendency to disobey him.

“He’s my boss.”

“Happy, technically, I’m also your boss ‘cause you are my bodyguard.”

“Right,” he grumbled. “But, you stay with me!”

“Thanks.” You smiled and he protectively took your hand, dragging you closer to the billionaire and his mysterious new ‘girlfriend’.

“Half hour ‘till the ball drops,” Happy announced to them while you hid behind him, and moved your hat down to cover your eyes.

“Hey, do you want-”

“Tony Stark, great speech, man!” A party guest interrupted Tony, but he was moved away before a potential attack by an overly professional bodyguard.

“I got you, pal,” Happy assured, and you stayed next to him whilst he began walking inside the ballroom with Tony and the brunette following behind.

“I gave a speech? How was it?”

“Edifying.”

“Unintelligible,” the woman added and Tony got hold of her arm.

“With a lot of alcohol,” you finished in a low tone to not be recognized.

“Really? It's my favorite kind, a winning combo.”

“Where are we going?” The brunette asked as your brother still followed you and Happy.

“Uh... to town on each other, probably back in your room,” he responded and you feigned to throw up. “‘Cause I also wanna see your research.”

“Okay, you can see my research, but that’s... I'm not gonna show you my _town_.”

“And this is the man who is raising me.” You deadpanned while Tony talked to two other scientists inside the party with his future one night stand at his arm.

“I can tell,” Happy mocked.

“Hey!” You exclaimed, and after the conversation between the many scientists ended, all of you finally walked away from the party as your face was still partially hidden by the silly hat.

“Mr. Stark!” The enthusiastic blonde man with long hair came up to you as you walked towards the elevator. “Oh, wow! Hey, Tony! …Aldrich Killian,” he introduced again and looked at the woman still holding Tony. “I'm a big fan of your work!”

“My work?” She laughed.

“Who isn't? He means me,” Tony added, and everyone stepped inside the elevator.

“Well, of course.” The man smiled and insisted. “But, Miss Hansen, my organization’s been tracking your research since year two of MIT.”

“Yeah, we're full.” Happy tried to put his arms out to stop Killian from coming inside, but he ducked under and moved into the elevator, standing right next to you.

“Oh, wow,” Tony admired. “He made it. He made the cut.”

“What floor are you going to, pal?” Happy asked and you pressed your lips together.

“Oh, now, that is an appropriate question,” Killian answered. “The ground floor, actually. I've a proposal I'm putting together with myself. It's a privately funded think tank called: Advanced Idea Mechanics.” He held out two business cards towards Tony and Ms. Hansen, but your brother ignored and the brunette woman took the cards before you stole one from her.

“Uh... she'll take both. One to throw away and one to not call,” Tony promised.

“Advanced Idea Mechanics, or AIM for short.” Killian continued as he pointed proudly to the blue logo on his white t-shirt. “Do you get it?”

“I see that, ‘cause it's on your T-shirt.” Your brother mocked and when the elevator finally stopped to the floor of your hotel suite, he talked to the women behind him. “Ladies, follow the mullet.”

“Staying here.” You had the same tone and he bought it again.

“Ladies first.” Happy - who seemed to have forgotten your presence - walked out with some balloons in hand. While the women followed, you stayed inside the elevator with Killian and Tony as the idea of going outside the building to see the fireworks invaded your mind.

“I'm titillated by the notion of working with you,” the billionaire whispered.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, cheese clown. I'm going to ditch these clowns; I'll see you up on the roof in five minutes.” Tony stepped out of the elevator and announced bluntly. “I'm just going to try to get my beef wet real quick. You know what I'm talkin' about?”

“Okay. I'll see you up there.”

“Damn betcha.”

“He won’t join you, you know that, right?” You interrogated Killian when the doors closed again and the elevator moved down after you had pushed the button.

“He will, he seems very interested.”

“Very interested in his new hook up.”

***.* End of the flashback *.***

"So, why am I telling you this? Because I had just created demons, and I didn't even know it. Yeah, those were the good times. Then I moved on. After a brief soirée in an Afghan cave, I said goodbye to the party scene. Forgot that night in Switzerland. These days, I'm a changed man, I'm different now. I'm… well, you know who I am.”


	51. Plot Twist - (Tony Stark x Sister!Reader) [1]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rating: Teens and Up  
> Summary: Reader arrives at the Stark Mansion in Malibu to spend Christmas with Tony and Pepper and she catches her brother trying on his brand new suit in the middle of the night.  
> Words Count: 2k  
> Warning: some cursing.  
> Author's Note: I haven't had the time to proofread this like I usually do, so I'm sorry if there are more mistakes than usual. If you see them, please tell me.

    _December 2012 - Stark Mansion, Malibu, CA_

“Peggy, you’re being an insomniac again,” you laughed at your old friend through the phone and you took your bags out of the car parked in front of the mansion at night.

 _‘The doctors say it’s a side effect of the disease_.’

“You can call me whenever you want, what I’m saying is you also need to rest.” You closed the door of the trunk and walked towards the entrance.

_‘I miss you already and Sharon isn’t picking up the phone because of a mission.’_

“I know, but I’ve promised Tony and Pepper to join them for Christmas.” You stepped in your big house and let your bags on the ground while walking in the living room. “I gotta go, though,” you whispered as the only lights coming down from the workshop were accompanied by a well-known voice making fun of the silly Dum-E.

_‘Right, goodnight, darling.’_

“Night, night, Peg.” You hung up and put the phone inside your pocket. “Hey, J.A.R.V.I.S.! What’s going on down there?”

“Good evening and welcome back, Miss Stark. Sir completed the micro-repeater implanting sequence, and now is testing his work,” J responded, referring to Tony’s new fad of getting his suits coming to him by a simple movement of his arms.

“I bet he entirely ignored the safety briefing you’ve prepared,” you guessed, and the AI confirmed your suspicion. “When was the last time he had a full night of sleep?”

“A very long time ago I’m afraid.”

“Listen to the woman, buddy and don’t say I’m here yet,” you said and he agreed.

You took a deep breath and walked downstairs towards the entrance of the workshop. You chose to stay in the corner of the staircase to not be seen as something interesting happened before your eyes.

“Sir, may I remind you that you've been awake for nearly seventy-two hours?” J.A.R.V.I.S. tried to reason with your brother, but it was ignored as he stood on the platform with Dum-U recording him like he had done in the past.

“Focus up, ladies. Good evening, and welcome to the birthing suite,” Tony addressed the Iron Man suits proudly exposed in their glass cages. “I'm pleased to announce the imminent arrival of your bouncing, badass, baby brother.” He turned to Dum-U as he ordered: “Start tight and go wide, stamp date and time. Mark 42, autonomous prehensile propulsion suit test. Initialize sequence.” He raised his hands and motioned to activate the new suit in pieces scattered inside the new workshop. “J.A.R.V.I.S., drop my needle.”

As commanded, _Jingle Bells_ started playing and Tony moved his upper body with the music while you unconsciously tapped your foot on the floor to follow the famous seasonal rhythm. He pointed his arm where he had injected the mini devices toward the dismantled new Iron Man suit on the table opposite, but nothing happened. As it was the first fail in his experiment, he tried again with more conviction in his movement, yet the armor still didn’t attach itself to his stretched arm.

“Crap,” Tony cursed and hit his arm containing the micro-repeaters. He finally motioned his arm again, this time a part of the suit complied as it flew over to him and attached itself to his hand to extend to his arm and shoulder as it created the suit’s golden left arm. The result finally achieved, he then positioned his other arm toward the suit and the second golden piece latched itself to his hand.

“All right, I think we got this,” your brother laughed proud of his own mad work. “Send 'em all.” As ordered, J.A.R.V.I.S. made the leg part flew over and attached itself to Tony's leg. Then, as another part fastened on him, he moved away slightly before it crashed into one of the Iron Man suit glass cages. Abruptly, another part hurled itself at Tony, who inflicted it with his arm making it crash against the ceiling.

“Oh, boy. You’re not going out of this so easily,” you mumbled, and still your brother didn’t notice you were there as he was too busy working on Mark 42.

“Probably a little fast, slow it down. Slow it down just a...” The chest part of the suit shot over and Tony ducked in time as it narrowly missed hitting him in the head again, “...little bit.”

“Don’t slow down, J,” you ordered in a whisper, and the AI obliged as the other parts fixed themselves with force onto Tony's back, leg and crotch area.

“Cool it, will you, J.A.R.V.I.S.?” Finally, all the other parts shot over and got attached to Tony, except for the final face piece, which just hovered, facing him. “Come on. I ain't scared of you.” The face piece fastened and Tony flipped over to grab the golden part of the armor as the new Iron Man suit was finally completely attached to him… or so he was led to believe.

“Superhero landing!”

“I'm the best.” He cried victory too soon and at that moment, one of the stray pieces of the suit knocked into him, making him fall to the ground. The entire suit dispersed around him except for the helmet, and you laughed loudly before you came into the workshop.

“The best in the world!” You clapped your hands and the billionaire jumped, finally acknowledging your presence as you hit his Wing Chun a few times.

“As always, sir, a great pleasure watching you work.” J.A.R.V.I.S. teased like he had always loved. You helped your brother sit on the platform with you after a quick peck on his cheek as greet and you removed the red helmet from his head.

“I thought your flight was in two days.” Tony shook his head, taking back his senses. “You should’ve called Happy; he would’ve picked you up at the airport.” You ignored and saw a cut on his lips before you took some cotton with the antiseptic bottle on the table next to you.

“Fury gave me the day since I didn’t take a single break this year and you know I like to have my independence, so no Happy.” You smiled, wiping away the blood on the corner of his mouth and you chuckled as he hissed because of the disinfection. You looked at the mess around the workshop, trying to find something you had dreamed of. “You hid it, didn’t you?”

“What are you talking about?”

“My Christmas gift… which is a new car!” You exclaimed extremely joyful and Tony smiled, seeing the joyful little girl under the tree once again.

“First of all, you’ve also inherited and became a billionaire, which means you can pay everything you want! Isn’t the principle of this holiday to give the gift on December 25th? The last time I checked, we were on…” He trailed off, detailing the new helmet in his hands.

“December 19th,” you finished for him with an obvious frown of concern while you noticed how tired and tensed he looked. “You all right?”

“Always,” Tony responded after a brief moment, looking into your eyes.

“Pepper told me about your little problem since… since, well you know. Why don’t you sleep?” You interrogated, but he looked down, ashamed or anxious at the idea of talking about his failures. “C’mon, Tony, you’ve gotta let me in. You know you can tell me everything, right?”

“I… I’ve tried to sleep really, but every time I close my eyes, I get some nightmares, the same that keeps repeating over and over again… I’m just trying to figure this out.”

“By working all night while you are ignoring your girlfriend and your only sister.”

“Y/N, this is my own therapy. I need to work on those suits because that’s how I see it!”

“What do you see?”

“Up there, it was the end of the world and I need to protect it,” Tony referred to the wormhole and you looked down, painful memories coming back to you both. “I see a suit of armor around the world, but it’s run by J.A.R.V.I.S.… no more Avengers and everyone is safe.”

“So, Mark…” You glanced at the armor lying at your feet. “Mark _42_ is the member of some kind of army?” You questioned, afraid of this cold world.

“Nope, just the Iron Legion. It’s a simple prototype I’ve had in my head since I came back from Manhattan, so nothing serious at this stage. And it probably won’t happen soon… I don’t know, what about a single-”

“Sir, I highly suggest you watch the T.V.!” J.A.R.V.I.S. interrupted with an urgent tone.

“Show us.” Tony jumped on the occasion to close the sensitive subject. The screen next to you turned on and the logo of the Ten Rings invaded your vision as footage of terrorists was shown to the eyes of the U.S. citizens until an unfortunately well-known voice began to speak.

 _‘Some people call me a terrorist, I consider myself a teacher. America. Ready for another lesson?’_ That was how the Mandarin began a new propaganda, threatening the world by the same way. Serving as the leader of the Ten Rings, the man was a powerful terrorist, ruling the same international terrorist organization that had kidnapped Tony a few years prior and unwillingly made him Iron Man.

_‘In 1864 in Sand Creek, Colorado, the U.S. military waited till the friendly Cheyenne braves all gone hunting. Waited to attack and slaughter their families left behind, and claim their land. Thirty-nine hours ago, the Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait was attacked. I... I... I did that.’_

“Does S.H.I.E.L.D. have anything on him?” Tony asked as he watched the desolation caused by the bombing through the screen.

“Not that I know, I’m not assigned to this mission,” you responded and your eyes remained locked in front of you.

 _‘A quaint military church filled with wives and children, of course. The soldiers were out on maneuvers. The braves were away. President Ellis, you continue to resist my attempts to educate you, sir. And now, you've missed me again. You know who I am. You don't know where I am. And you'll never see me coming.’_ The Mandarin threatened again and the message video ended to let the usual television show come back.

“They hijacked the American airwaves! How’d they do that?!” You exclaimed, still looking at the screen showing the White House. “I’ll try to get more information from Agent May tomorrow.” You turned to the billionaire and the rage and anger burning his brown eyes froze you until you understood the meaning of this gaze. “No, Tony. Don’t even think about it!”

“Already done,” he admitted and grabbed the hand of his armor to put it on.

“You want to go back to Afghanistan?” You asked in disbelief and dropped your hands on your hips. “Why don’t you let S.H.I.E.L.D. do the job? Political stuff is also our specialty.”

“This problem has its solution and it doesn’t need your presence,” Tony argued and you groaned before you took his hand, leading to the lounge area of the garage.

“Truth is you don’t have to do this alone. You won’t be,” you claimed as you sat on a sofa.

“You know, I wish I could believe that.” He exhaled and grasped his hand nervously. “I really do. But you’ve gotta trust me. Contrary to popular belief, I know exactly what I’m doing.”

“You don't want to stop this lone gunslinger thing, do you?” Your question remained unanswered as the TV finally showed the White House’s response to yet another fearful message from the Ten Rings.

 _‘Central to my Administration's response to this terrorist event, is a newly minted resource,’_ President Ellis addressed The Mandarin threat, and you watched carefully. _‘I know him as Colonel James Rhodes. The American people will soon know him as the Iron Patriot.’_ Words said, Rhodey showed up in his brand new suit painted with the American flag colors.

“ _Iron Patriot_ …? Our country is definitely screwed up.”


	52. Plot Twist - (Tony Stark x Sister!Reader) [2]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Featuring: Rhodey  
> Rating: Teens and Up  
> Summary: Reader confronts Tony about everything he's been doing since she came back to the Mansion.  
> Words Count: 2.1k  
> Warnings: one innuendo that is quite funny, Tony having a panic attack and mentions of anxiety and PTSD.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Sorry, I had a little bit of problem with this chapter, so I had re-post it, so if I haven't responded to any comments, then it's not your fault.

 

    _Two days later - a bar, Malibu, CA_

During these past two days, your brother had been new to you: very busy, spending his whole time in the workshop, working on his suit. You had no idea when it did happen, but you realized he’d already designed dozens of new armors without a break since May. He was even secretive whenever someone would mention the attacks committed by the Ten Rings. You stepped away from him with Pepper, but you both wanted to save him and protect him.

After endless tries, you managed to get Tony out of the mansion as Rhodey had offered to share a lunch with you and his best friend in his favorite bar in town. You both jumped gladly on the occasion of making fun of Rhodey’s new Iron Patriot suit while you ate all together.

“The same suit, but painted red white and blue. Look at that,” you laughed, pointing at the TV showing the new armor. “And they also renamed you _Iron Patriot_...? Why, just in case the paint was too subtle? Guess that Captain America was already taken.”

“You mean Rogers took _you_ ,” Tony coughed and you almost spat on his face the fresh water you’d drunk.

“It tested well with focus groups, all right?” Rhodey addressed your endless teasing, looking at you half-amused.

“I am Iron Patriot!” Tony put on a mocking voice. “It sucks.”

“You should’ve worked on another name, I could have helped.”

“Listen, _War Machine_ was a little too aggressive, all right? This sends a better message.” The Colonel ate a bite of his French fry and you snorted.

“So, what's really goin' on? With the Mandarin,” Tony interrogated and removed his red sunglasses. “Seriously, can we talk about this guy?” He inched closer to Rhodey and you mimicked as you wanted to compare his info with what S.H.I.E.L.D. had given your brother.

“It's classified information, Tony.” Rhodey tried to stop it, but you both insisted, not moving back and he surrendered. “Okay, there have been nine bombings.”

“Nine,” your brother repeated.

“The public only knows about three,” you added, matching your S.H.I.E.L.D. info.

“But here's the thing, nobody can ID a device. There's no bomb casings,” Rhodey finished.

“You know I can help, just ask,” Tony offered his help. “I got a ton of new tech, I got a prehensile suit, I got a... I got a new bomb disposal: catches explosions midair.”

“When's the last time you got a good night's sleep?”

“He’s been like _this_ for days.” You turned your head to the soldier.

“Einstein slept three hours a year. Look what he did?”

“People are concerned about you, Tony,” Rhodey confessed and beckoned his head towards you. “I'm concerned about you just like Y/N is.”

“You're gonna come at me like that?”

“No. No, look, I'm not trying to be a dic...” his best friend stopped himself as two children came up to your table. “...tator.”

“Do you mind signing my drawings?” The girl asked Tony, handing him a paper. “You too, Miss (Y/SH/N).” She then gave you a drawing of you on fire as well as a crayon.

“Wow, another kid asking me to sign a paper! Of course, I’m doing it,” you exclaimed with a beam and turned to Rhodey. “If Richard doesn't mind.”

“You all right with this, _Dick_?” Your brother added and you chuckled.

“Yeah. Fine with me,” he laughed and you took the crayon, signing the paper while Tony chitchatted with the children standing next to him.

“Listen, the Pentagon is scared,” Rhodey said, coming back to the Mandarin subject. “After what happened in New York... aliens, come on. They need to look strong. Stopping the Mandarin is a priority, but it's not-”

“It's not superhero business, I get it.” Tony cut in and you gave back the drawing to the girl.

“No, it's not, quite frankly. It's American business.”

“That's why I said I... got it.” As he wrote his name on the paper, he abruptly broke the crayon with a shaky hand. You stopped focusing on the drawing when he placed a hand on his face, hiding his features contorting as if he felt ill.

“Hey, what’s going on?” You questioned, laying your palm on his forearm as the genuine worries grew inside you.

“I broke the crayon.”

“Are you okay, Mr. Stark?” The girl asked, yet he didn’t answer.

“Take it easy... Tony.” Rhodey patted his shoulder, but when the little boy whispered something in his ear, the billionaire suddenly rose from his chair with a horrified look trapping his face and he started walking off.

“Wait!” You called out and followed him as he walked out the bar. “What'd he say?” You tried to know what the boy might have whispered to trigger such reaction.

“Tony!” Rhodey left some dollars on the table and finally followed.

“Sorry. Have to check on the suit... make sure... okay.” Tony stepped into his Iron Man suit that was parked outside the bar and knelt a brief moment before you both joined him. Rhodey knocked on the helmet while people gathered around you, watching what happened to the superheroes in front of them.

“Come on, man. This isn't a good look. Open up,” the soldier urged.

“Sorry, I gotta split.” Tony excused and flew off in his suit, probably heading to his mansion.

“Tony,” you whispered to yourself as you looked up to the sky. “Pepper told me he’s been like this ever since New York,” you told Rhodey, and walked fast to your car that you opened.

“He still doesn’t want to speak about it,” he sighed and shut the door after you had sat in. “Doesn’t it remind you of something that _frequently_ happens in our jobs?”

“The worst case scenario.” You nodded sadly as you understood what he’d referred to. “Let’s give him some space, and then I’ll try to talk to him later.”

****

A few hours had passed until you fastened up your car to the mansion and parked inside the garage. You took the staircase leading to the large living area where you thought Tony was, but nothing else than Mark 42 sitting on the couch was to be seen.

You decided to take the stairs directly deserving to the wine cellar and as your eyes shifted through the room, yet again he wasn’t there. You were about to go back up when Tony’s brand new phone caught your attention- inside a fridge while a Skype session was still online.

“Uh, is this forehead of security?” You questioned the camera monitor showing a forehead after you had opened the glass door. “Happy, is it you?”

“Hey, Y/N,” Pepper’s new bodyguard greeted. “So, what’s up with your super-friends?”

“What are you doing in the _fridge_?”

“Your brother put me in there.”

“Then log off,” you suggested and a noise coming from the level above made you jump lightly. “Sorry, I gotta go!” You excused and rushed to the workshop upstairs where the back of your brother welcomed you. “Will you tell me what’s going on with you?” You asked as he worked on some calculations on his monitor onto the platform.

“Nothing, I told Rhodey the same,” he brushed it off and finally turned to you. “I hope you didn’t hit the custom rabbit with your car in front of the house.”

“No, I parked at the back,” you responded and approached him. “A giant bunny to apologize because you’re ignoring your girlfriend, who is the best thing that ever happened in your life.”

“Yep, she’ll like it!” He smiled and flipped a file on the monitor to show you the I.D. of a blonde man. “Reminds me, Pepper is having a meeting with Aldrich Killian… and Happy told me she’s giggling like a teen while he’s basically showing her his big brain.”

“His what?”

“Killian, he was a creepy blonde not long ago. I actually met the guy back in ‘99 in a science conference in Bern.” Tony explained and took a seat next to the monitor where he checked more articles or interviews given by Killian since that night in Switzerland.

“Oh, yeah, I remember him!” You clapped your hands. “He helped me going inside the ballroom and I saw him again when I left the party at two in the morning... He also invited you to join A.I.M. thirteen years ago, but you turned him down.”

“You went to the party?!” Your brother cried. “You were almost fifteen!”

“Hey, I'm not exactly like you, Tony! I didn't drink... just danced. Remember the _'staying inside the elevator'_ thing? It was me!” You ducked when he threw a piece of his suit, but then all traces of laughter disappeared from your face. “So what’s the problem?

“I don’t trust the guy. Happy seemed concerned.”

“No, you're spying on Pepper. Killian isn't the real problem I’m talking about,” you pressed your lips together as he quirked an eyebrow, his signature move. “I’m talking about what happened back in the bar!”

“I wasn’t feeling well, all right? Drop it!” Tony exclaimed, and you stood in front of him.

You touched the screens to reveal the Mandarin investigation he had led and had tried to hide from you or Pepper in the last two days. “So, you’re really going after this terrorist, and you really want to do this alone.”

“I have to.”

“No, you don’t because S.H.I.E.L.D. is the best qualified in tracking someone down, and you know that. This Mandarin isn’t invincible; it’s been days that you are studying him, so now let me join in.”

“It’s too dangerous.”

“ _This_ is dangerous.” You snapped your fingers and shot up a flame. “I am.”

“I, uh… I just don’t want all this to happen all over again,” your brother stuttered, and passed his hands across his face as he turned his gaze. At that moment, you understood he’d referred to New York’s dramatic events and you saw the chance to finally talk about the real issue behind all this.

“You know how we call what you're going through?” You asked rhetorically in a voice heavy with concern and he clenched his jaw. “PTSD. _Post-traumatic stress disorder_. I have friends that are living the same tough experience.”

He looked down as he tried to find a way to avoid this subject, “I've just finished a suit you need to see and you can even put it on if you want! Some verification needed.”

“You're not going to buy me with it, Tony.” You crossed your arms and your brother stared at you like it was a challenge, knowing either one of you weren’t going to give up.

“What do you want me to say?”

“Admit that you're working on these suits as a cure or a therapy... it's your cocoon. Admit that you are doing _this_ for all the people you _think_ you’re still putting in the harm. Admit it and talk to us. Talk to me.”

“No, those suits are part of me.”

“They are you, I get it. But tell me something,” you whispered the last words as you put a hand on his shoulder, yet he didn’t say a word. “You know what, take all the time you need, but if you want to talk to me, I'll be in my room.” You started walking off the workshop, passing the door glasses and you took the first stairs.

“No, wait, stop! Hey, I admit it!” Tony finally confessed and you turned back to look at him. “I'm a piping hot mess. It's been going on for a while, I haven't said anything. Nothing's been the same since New York.”

“Oh, really? Well, I didn't notice that at all.”

“You experience things and then they're over and you still can't explain 'em. Gods, aliens, other dimensions. I... I'm just a man in a can. The only reason I haven't cracked up is probably because Pepper moved in. Which is great. I love her, I'm lucky. But Y/N, I can't sleep. She goes to bed, I come down here. I do what I know, I tinker.” Tony stopped for a moment and you looked at him clearly saddened. “Threat is imminent, and I have to protect the two things that I can't live without. That's you and Pepper.”

You walked up to your brother with a small smile that he tried to mimic from the chair and you cupped his cheeks to reassure him. The exact same way he had done with you in the past when you weren’t old enough to understand everything about life.

“There’s no shame to speak about it, you know.” He nodded his head, standing up and you took him in your arms. “My special little snowflake… Will you do me a favor today? Make yourself comfortable, take a shower and have a dinner date with Pep. She misses you.”

“Right, I'm gonna… I’m gonna do it.”

“You're going to work on the Mandarin lead until she gets home, right?” You pulled away.

“Yep.”

“Then let me help you with it, please.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Sorry, I had a little bit of problem with this chapter, so I had re-post it, so if I haven't responded to any comments, then it's not your fault.


	53. Plot Twist - (Tony Stark x Sister!Reader) [3]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Featuring: Pepper  
> Rating: Teens and Up  
> Summary: Reader helps Tony investigate on the Mandarin and join his battle.  
> Words Count: 2.3k  
> Warnings: mentions of anxiety and death.  
> Author's Note: So, I've decided to change my posting schedule to make it easier for me. From now on, I'll be updating this fanfiction on Saturdays and no more on Wednesdays.

    _Overnight - Stark Mansion, Malibu, CA_

Eyes opened, you shifted your position on the mattress to find the right way to reach sleep again, but this couldn’t seem to work anymore. After you had worked with Tony on the Mandarin lead, Pepper came back home and finally convinced him to relax with her, which was a relief to see, you had to admit… yet something about him was still bothering you.

The only person with whom you could speak about it wasn’t there, but you wanted to contact him anyway, just to hear a reassuring voice. You dialed the number on your phone before you brought it to your ear as you heard the usual voicemail making you smile in pain of loss.

 _‘Hi, you’ve reached Coulson, but obviously, I’m not here… probably doing some normal stuff… Y/N, I’ve told you this message is ridiculous. I’ll do it my way.’_ You heard your voice in the background, laughing and Phil got back to his phone. _‘Anyway, I’m not here, so leave a message and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.’_ He tried to hang up, but the device continued to record his voice scolding you. _‘Seriously, Y/N, I’m not taking your advice anymore and- BEEP.’_

“Hey, Phil. It’s me… _again_. I know, it’s crazy, I’m just talking to a voicemail, but I needed to hear your voice and _your_ advice would be very welcome at this moment,” you sighed and looked out at the window overlooking the ocean. “Right now I’m worried about Tony. Lately, he’s been very anxious, and he’s trying to hide it… family thing you would’ve said, but I want to help him… and- and I don’t know how. My brother has PTSD and I’m feeling so helpless, he’s also in trouble. He needs my support, my skills and if it has to go roughly… so be it.”

“Phil, I know this will never be heard, but I miss you _so_ much. I wish you were here. You were the only one who could read straight through me and see how hard it was for me since I’ve joined S.H.I.E.L.D.” Your voice cracked under unformed tears and you let the silence take over the room while it calmed you down. “I love you, and I’m still sorry about everything.”

You hung up shakily and tossed the phone on your bed, still looking at the window and the landscape invaded your mind for peaceful seconds. Your brain was brought back to reality when some cries of fear could be heard from the master bedroom across the hallway. In an instinctive move, you took your gun to rush outside your room and see Pepper leaving upset.

“What happened?” You questioned and lowered your weapon, seeing her features frozen with stress and confusion.

“Mark 42,” she gasped and rubbed her face with her hands. “I’m going to sleep downstairs… just talk to him- I can’t...” Without another word, she took the staircase as she tried to hide some tears. You stepped into the bedroom to see Tony catching his breath on the mattress while his brand new suit armor was scattered in pieces next to the bed.

You closed your eyes a few seconds, trying to swallow the pain and naturally, you climbed to sit next to him. Even when the silence filled the thick atmosphere, you understood he had another nightmare. You rubbed your brother’s back and he put his head on your shoulder while he tried to fight the anxiety his dark dream had triggered.

“You want to share it?” You offered and he declined, still shaken by the horror his subconscious showed him. “Okay, so what do you want to talk about?” You asked instead, trying to make him forget and he searched his mind for a few seconds.

“Dunno…” He shushed for long minutes. “Maybe, uh- so, still afraid to fall in love?”

“Uh, I don't think I want to discuss this with my older brother.”

“What, you see yourself having a conversation about love with the parents if they were still alive?” He questioned with this concern in his tone and you huffed out a laugh. “So?”

“I'm fine the way I am, right now,” you admitted. “Besides, I have no time for dating as I have my own responsibilities to tend to,” you finally answered his question and frowned. “Seriously, why is everyone worrying about my love life? I'm already happy and it's enough!"

“Whoa, Frosty. Calm down, just trying to make a nice conversation with my favorite little sister.” He eventually smiled and moved his head to look at you. “Thanks.”

“Love you, too,” you chuckled lightly and shifted your gaze to the feet of the bed. You kept on looking at the gold and red on the floor and spoke again. “If you want to dismantle the Ten Rings, we’ll need more. Some backup, don’t you think?”

“They are all minding their own business,” Tony argued. “Even the god is still in Asgard!”

“Technically, I don't believe Thor is a god.” You stared up lovingly at the ceiling, and a stupid smile crept up onto your face. “You've never been held by his arms, though… Mr. Fancy.”

“Wait a minute. You have a crush on Capsicle, not the Asgardian.”

“No.”

“You're kidding, right?” Tony tried to read through your eyes, but nothing changed. “Rogers has always been protecting you and you eyed him so greedily... it was _so_ awkward for us.”

“We're friends! Once again, you're wrong and I'm right. Starting to get a little tired of this-”

“That's why you’re seeing him every weekend outside of work.” He arched a brow, smirking.

“Not _every_ weekend and I'm assigned to help him, remember?”

“Nope, sweetie, this assignment has been lifted ever since the last events.”

“There is nothing. We are friends... yeah; friendship between a man and a woman exists.” You rose to your feet and helped him up. “Let’s talk about something else, all right?”

“I need to tinker,” he mused and motioned for his armor to stand again. “I need to check the flying system of the suit.”

****

Long hours later- during day time -when Tony focused on the calculations and algorithms, J.A.R.V.I.S. interrupted your work. You received a call from the hospital, informing that Happy had been injured in a bombing near the Chinese Theater in Los Angeles. Immediately, your brother rushed to his old friend side while you stayed at home with Pepper to have some news about the sudden attack that had caused so many damages.

“Anything on the bomb yet?” You asked Natasha on the phone, pacing around the living room while the bay window was transformed into a monitor showing the info channels.

_‘Same than what May and Rhodey have already sent you. Though there are some similarities with one attack in the country, I’m sending this to J.A.R.V.I.S.’_

“Thanks… I’ll check this later. Bye.” You ended the call as the Ten Rings hijacked the channels once again. You dropped your hands on your hips and Pepper joined you in time.

 _‘True story about fortune cookies.’_ As the Mandarin spoke, sharing his new propaganda, another terrorist footage took control. _‘They look Chinese. They sound Chinese. But they're actually an American invention. Which is why they're hollow, full of lies, and leave a bad taste in the mouth… My disciples just destroyed another cheap American knockoff. The Chinese Theater. Mr. President, I know this must be getting frustrating, but this season of terror is drawing to a close. And don't worry, the big one is coming. Your graduation.’_

Pepper clearly tried to swallow the fear that surrounded her face, sitting on the couch and you crossed your arms. As the channels finally came back, it wasn’t long before the focus shifted on the cameras of news reporters from all over the world, waiting for Tony outside the hospital as they wanted him to share his thoughts.

 _‘We're awaiting the arrival of Tony Stark. We're hoping he'll give us the reaction... his reaction to the latest attack._ ’ A blonde journalist said a few feet away from the main entrance and Tony walked out as all the dozen of reporters swarmed toward him. _‘Mr. Stark! Mr. Stark! Our sources are telling us that this is another Mandarin attack. Anything else you can tell us?’_

“Please, keep your mouth shut, Tony,” Pepper begged quietly as her boyfriend ignored the many questions, going to his white car.

 _‘Hey, Mr. Stark!’_ A pushy tabloid reporter called out, and he turned to face him. _‘When is somebody gonna kill this guy? Just sayin'.’_

“Too soon, Pep. You know the guy.”

 _‘Is that what you want?’_ Tony questioned the journalists and they all stayed quiet. _‘Here's a little Holiday greeting I've been wanting to send to the Mandarin. I just didn't know how to phrase it until now. My name is Tony Stark and I'm not afraid of you. I know you're a coward, so I've decided that you just died, pal. I'm gonna come get the body.’_

“Please, Y/N… tell me I’m not hearing this. This gotta be a nightmare,” Pepper faltered and you scoffed, rubbing your tired eyes. If Tony wanted revenge, then you wanted it as well.

_‘There's no politics here; it's just good old-fashioned revenge. There's no Pentagon; it's just you and me. And on the off-chance you're a man, here's my home address: 10880, Malibu Port, 90265. I'll leave the door unlocked.’_

“Nice move, bro, you’re only supposed to be a genius, after all.”

“Did- did he just give our address to the world’s craziest man?” Pepper questioned, and you swallowed before nodding your head slowly. “Okay, I’m gonna pack up right now. We’re not living here anymore!”

“No, you’re overreacting, Pepper!” She rolled her eyes as yours followed her going upstairs fast. “Trust me; he knows what he’s doing. We’ve fought worse!”

“But, what if I want him to stop? He’s always throwing himself in danger.” She ran her shaky hands through her hair and she eventually left to her master bedroom, packing up her bags.

You sighed heavily, taking the stairs to the kitchen from where you could hear the reporters’ helicopters already flying above the mansion. You poured yourself a large mug of coffee and waited for your brother to come back home and handle the situation.

****

“Y/N?” Tony called as soon as he stepped into the living room and you stood from the couch. “You saw it, I want revenge. I’ll make him suffer.”

“And I’m gonna be here when it will happen,” you promised and went to the workshop. “He’s gonna regret everything.”

“Then you’re in.”

As soon as you both got comfortable, knowing you would stay there for a long time; you began to share your information with Tony and discussed the first tactics of your plan. You both had different views about the way to see things: he wanted to go in Afghanistan- practically unprepared and when the recruit you were ten years ago would’ve agreed, you opted for a more subtle plan involving some research in the field. A work of spy as he called it.

“I've compiled a Mandarin database for you, sir,” J.A.R.V.I.S. said as you stood on the platform with your brother. “Drawn from S.H.I.E.L.D., F.B.I., and C.I.A. intercepts. Initiating virtual crime scene reconstruction.” As soon as he finished, the virtual scene appeared in three dimensions on the platform and you both started to walk around as you looked at all the data gathered.

“Okay, what do we got here? His name is an ancient Chinese war mantle, meaning: _adviser to the King_.” Tony enumerated, remembering important details. “South American insurgency tactics, talks like a Baptist preacher. There's lots of pageantry going on here... lots of theater.”

“Close.” You pushed the virtual information down to close and a new holographic scene appeared as J.A.R.V.I.S. spoke.

“The heat from the blast was in excess of 3000 degrees Celsius. Any subjects within 12.5 yards were vaporized instantly.”

“No bomb parts found in a three-mile radius of the Chinese theater.” You said as more of a statement than a question to anyone.

“No, miss.”

“Talk to me, Happy,” Tony whispered and noticed in the virtual reconstruction, Happy pointing his finger at some dog tags on the ground. He picked up the virtual image for you to investigate them further. “When is a bomb not a bomb?”

“When there’s no bomb casings,” you reminded and took a closer look at the hologram. “Any military victims?” You inquired as you tried to read the name on the necklace.

“Not according to public records.”

“Bring up the thermogenic signatures again, factor in three thousand degrees,” your brother ordered and sat on top of the big tool box to have a better view.

“The oracle cloud has completed analysis,” J.A.R.V.I.S. said. “Accessing satellites and plotting the last twelve months of thermogenic occurrence now.”

“Take away everywhere that there's been a Mandarin attack.” Tony looked at the many pads of locations popping up, moving them to the side. “Nope.” You both saw the data gathered about an attack in Rose Hill, Tennessee extremely similar to what the Mandarin had done already. “That. You sure that's not one of his?”

“It predates any known Mandarin attack. The incident was the use of a bomb to assist a suicide.”

“Bring her around,” you said and the information pad floated towards you. It opened and all the information about the suicide was shown to you, informing you that it was committed by an ex-soldier. Another soldier involved in a similar attack wasn’t a coincidence for any of you.

“The heat signature is remarkably similar. Three thousand degrees Celsius.”

“I can be hotter than that.” You smirked, keeping your serious as your brother rolled his eyes.

“That's two military guys. What if we spend Christmas in Tennessee this year, Y/N?”

“I’ll pack up my stuff. J.A.R.V.I.S., you know what to do.”

“Creating a flight plan for Tennessee.”

As you were both about to get ready to leave for Tennessee, the doorbell rang and you motioned your hands to close the virtual display in a quick movement.

“Are we still at _ding-dong_?” Tony’s grin faded away as soon as the facial scan started at the front door. “We're supposed to be on total security lockdown. Come on, I threatened a terrorist. Who is that?”

“There's only so much we can do, Tony, when you give the world's press our home address.”


	54. Plot Twist - (Tony Stark x Sister!Reader) [4]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Featuring: Maya Hansen, Pepper, and some guests appearance. *wink*  
> Rating: Teens and Up  
> Summary: Just as when Reader and Tony are about to continue their investigation on the latest Mandarin attack, they receive the visit of his old one night stand.  
> Words Count: 2.3k  
> Warnings: mild language, mentions of blood and injury.

_Stark Mansion, Malibu, CA_

As you were both about to get ready to leave for Tennessee, the doorbell rang and you motioned your hands to close the virtual display in a quick movement.

“Are we still at _ding-dong_?” Tony’s grin faded away as soon as the facial scan started at the front door. “We're supposed to be on total security lockdown. Come on, I threatened a terrorist. Who is that?”

“There's only so much we can do, Tony, when you give the world's press our home address.”

“Shut up… I’m going to check who it is, stay here.” He jumped from the tool box and went to the front door, leaving you alone in the basement. Yet, you approached the staircase leading to the living room, carefully listening to everything that could happen above your head.

After a few seconds where no strange sounds could be heard, you took another gun you’d secretly hidden under the stairs, ready to shoot at any moment. You finally went upstairs to see Tony dressed in his new Iron Man suit, talking to a brunette woman standing in the middle of the foyer. As they seemed to be in the middle of a conversation, you concluded she wasn’t an assassin sent by the Mandarin to kill him. She didn’t look like that either, but discretion was the better part of valor as you’d been taught.

“Oh, so you’re not alone…” The woman finally acknowledged your presence, swallowing thickly with this sudden uncomfortable feeling. Your brother moved his gaze to you as stopped next to him. “(Y/SH/N) is here as well.”

“Uh, hi?” You glanced at them back and forth for an answer, still aiming at her chest. “Who are you?”

“Can you put that gun down…? I’m just-”

“She’s the woman I knew when we were in Bern in ninety-nine,” Tony interrupted.

“You mean that party in Switzerland where you tried to leave me in our hotel room because you were too occupied with your hook up.”

“Hook up, who happens to be this woman.” He pointed at her and you narrowed your eyes for a few seconds as you tried to recall the moment in the elevator back then.

“Oh, yeah, it’s you! I didn't recognize you under all those wrinkles.” You lowered the weapon, putting it in the back of your belt and she gasped silently. “No hard feelings since then, sweetheart. Trust me.”

“Okay, look, I need to be alone with you,” Hansen said, pointing at the doors behind her as she scanned your place as if searching for threats. “Someplace not here, it's urgent.”

“Normally, I'd go for that sort of thing, but now I'm in a committed relationship.” He turned to walk into the living room while you and the botanist trailed after him when two bags were thrown down from the balcony above. “It's... with her.”

“Tony, is somebody there?” Pepper asked, looking down as he stepped out of his suit.

“Yeah, it's Maya Hansen. Old botanist pal that I used to know, barely.”

“At least he remembered you, you should be honored,” you whispered to her as Pepper started walking downstairs, bumping into the giant custom rabbit.

Tony took this occasion and moved closer to Hansen, speaking quietly. “Please don't tell me that there is a twelve-year-old kid waiting in the car that I've never met.”

“He's thirteen,” she quipped and you both gasped, jumping lightly. “And _no_ , I need your help.”

“What... what for? Why now?” Tony asked in relief, but questioning the ridiculous timing.

“Because I read the papers and frankly, I don't think you'll last the week.”

“Thanks, we’ll be fine,” you said and Pepper finally stood beside her boyfriend with this forced smile on her face, trying to forget all of these details making her angry.

“I'm sorry,” she said. “With Happy in the hospital, I didn't know we were expecting guests. And old girlfriends!”

“She’s not really,” Tony corrected.

“No, not really. It was just one night.”

“Yep. A real nightmare,” you added and your brother’s brown eyes threw you daggers.

“That's how you did it, isn't it?” Pepper interrogated sarcastically.

“It was a great night.” He shrugged and you brought a palm to your face, muttering that he wasn’t making this easy for himself.

“Well, you know, you have saved yourself a world of pain.”

“I'm sure.”

“What?” Tony and you barked at the same time.

“Trust me.” Pepper smiled, then turned to her boyfriend. “We're going out of town.”

“Okay, we've been through this. Nope. The man says no,” he argued.

 “Yep! Immediately and indefinitely!”

“Pepper-”

“Great idea,” Hansen interrupted you, walking closer to the luggage. “Let's go. I'll-”

“I'm sorry, that's a terrible idea. Please, don't touch her bags.”

“Tony, this is how normal people behave,” Pepper tried to reason with him.

“I can't protect you out there. I challenged-”

“Is that normal?” Hansen cut in; beckoning her head towards the stairs where the giant stuffed rabbit your brother had bought for Pepper was.

“Yes, this is normal!” You exclaimed, annoyed by her habit of commenting and interrupting when it wasn’t the appropriate time.

“Sadly, that is very normal.”

“It's a big bunny, relax about it!”

“Calm down,” you told your brother and turned back to the brunette as the couple bickered in the background. “Will you stop talking, okay?! Don’t you see you’re making it worse? What do you-” You trailed off as you noticed she stared at the television on the opposite wall, showing that an unknown object was flying fast to your home. “Tony?”

“Guys, can we- um-”

“What?!” Your brother stopped the argument when Hansen pointed at a rocket missile heading straight for the living room of your mansion.

“Do we need to worry about that?”

“Holy…”

Your words found no end as the bomb hit the house and created an enormous explosion around you. The blast caused you to fly backward with Hansen as Tony and Pepper were thrown in the other way. You collapsed against a wall, feeling that your shoulder had taken most of the hit and your body finally landed back on the floor as many parts of the ceiling started to collapse onto you.

You rolled instinctively, avoiding most of the debris until your side bumped into an unconscious Maya Hansen lying close to the foyer. As you brought your fingers onto her neck, checking her slow pulse, you winced and felt the pain in your shoulder more vivid.

“Tony!” You called and crawled towards a red and gold well-built form as more dust flew around you, making you inhale more of it.

“Here!” He coughed and before he could’ve been hit by the ceiling, Pepper protected his body as she was dressed in his Mark 42 suit. You finally gathered your strength and rose to your feet, seeing Tony standing up. You held out your hand closer as he began to run to you with Pepper, but three helicopters started shooting at the house.

“Move! I'm right behind!” Tony commanded as you all avoided the shots successfully and the floor collapsed between Pepper, you, and him. “Pepper, go get Maya outside with Y/N, I’m going to find another way around.” He stopped as he saw the hesitation and panic in your eyes. “Listen to me and stop stopping!”

Despite the injury of your shoulder and your concern about his safety, you listened to your brother, and Pepper wrapped one arm around you as she grabbed Hansen with the other. She used the gauntlet and beamed at the glass door, shattering it as you finally got outside the mansion that got further destroyed as the helicopters continued to fire.

“Oh, my God. Tony!” You and Pepper screamed, cradling a hand on your shoulder while the house collapsed before your eyes. Just as when you were about to go back inside, the Iron Man suit came off the redhead and flew straight to him you supposed, helping him bring down one of the helicopters shooting at him.

“Y/N, what are you doing?!” She cried as you rushed closer to the mansion, knowing what would happen there if you weren’t here for Tony. The dust, the thick smoke, the bare cables still hanging on the walls and the pieces of concrete around you couldn’t change your mind when you saw your brother running and trying to avoid the bullets of the two helicopters firing at him with their machine guns.

“Y/N!” Tony screamed as you made it to him close to a window. He used his armor to protect you from the bullets as the helicopter approached you in the living room. “Just go, get out of here!”

“No, not without you!” Using your pain endurance at best, you held out a hand toward the enemy and threw an enormous ball of fire towards the helicopter, setting it on fire before the pilot lost control. “That's two,” you breathed out and he nodded. “Now, come with me!”

“Too late!” He cried as the helicopter exploded, flying straight to the house where it would crash. “Hold on to me!” Your brother folded his arms around you tightly and you both knelt, feeling the floor shaking beneath your feet as it fell.

You tightened your grip around the iron suit when the foundation collapsed and you both landed at the lowest level- in the workshop, hitting the concrete with a loud thud. The side of your head slammed against a remain of the ceiling as the last helicopter shot at the previous and first Iron Man suits standing behind their glasses of protection.

“Y/N, stay with me! Don’t sleep, all right?” Tony called as he noticed some blood slipping through a cut on your head where you received the shock and your arms loosened their grip around him gradually. “Sweetheart!”

Dark spots quickly invaded your vision as you felt yourself drifting to another state. Tony held you and him with one hand, clinging to the metallic structure of the house when the whole basement gave in and slid down, falling into the ocean just like the upper level a few seconds ago. Your growing weakness and grogginess finally won the battle against you as you let go of Tony, fainting in the air where you followed the rest of debris destined to hit the water.

“Y/N!” He let himself fall with you, ready to catch your body. “J, my flight power! _NOW_!”

 _‘Flight power restored, sir.’_ J.A.R.V.I.S. said and Tony finally used the blast to fly down faster and grab you. He wrapped one arm around your back while the other went under your knees, keeping you safe- close to him. He flew back up, noting that the last helicopter seemed to have taken off, leaving you with your brother flying straight through the sky to an unknown destination.

*****************************************

    _A couple of hours later - The Triskelion, Washington D.C._

Sitting in his office on the penultimate floor of the building, Fury waited for Steve to come from Brooklyn for a special meeting with him. After six months only working as an adviser for S.H.I.E.L.D., the director wanted Steve to become a full-time agent exclusively working for this intelligence agency- with his own teammate and another team as STRIKE to command.

“Sir.” Steve finally knocked at the door and approached Fury after he had let him in. “You’ve called me.”

“Captain Rogers.” He shook his hand and gestured he could take a seat. “I have some offer for you to consider… I think it’s time that you officially join S.H.I.E.L.D.”

“Me?” The super soldier’s eyes widened. “I don’t think I’m qualified enough to be a spy.”

“That’s the thing, you won’t be one. You’ll be mainly here for the combat in the field-”

“Director Fury!” Hill interrupted in shock and came in a rush with Clint and Natasha following behind. “I think you want to see this… you too, Captain.” She took the remote on the desk and turned on the television, switching to a news channel.

 _‘We’re live in Malibu, above what seems to be the last remaining of the famous Stark Mansion owned by Tony Stark himself.’_ A reporter pointed at the nonexistent house as she was in one of the many news helicopters flying around Malibu to have the exclusivity of the news. _‘A bit more than two hours ago, some neighbors reported that three helicopters were here to shoot all kinds of missiles at the house. Earlier today, the billionaire also known as Iron Man has threatened the Mandarin- we still don’t know if the two events are linked, but we know for sure that Pepper Potts has survived the attack while Tony Stark is still missing.’_

“What happened to Tony?” Steve asked, dumbfounded, standing from his seat as well as Fury. The horror and fear on their faces were unexplainable, even though all of them tried to conceal them, knowing that showing their emotions wasn’t part of their respective jobs.

“We think he’s… dead.” Natasha said and the atmosphere became worse. “It’s not over; I know that Y/N was inside with him at this moment. We were the only ones at S.H.I.E.L.D. knowing she was spending Christmas with him, that’s why the reporters don’t mention her.”

“What are you going to do about it?!” Clint asked as he paced around the room nervously. “They might have survived, they have to be somewhere… and we all know they are tough!”

“Calm down, Barton. We’ll find them and if they are still alive, they'll let us know it,” Steve soothed; coming back to the Captain he is to fight the panic growing inside him as he turned to Fury with this serious tone. “I’m sure you are already trying to track them down, Director.”

“Listen up. Hill, I want our best five agents on site, searching for anything that might lead us to them: dead or alive,” Fury ordered and the deputy director nodded, taking her phone. “There’s no more missions to focus on for them until we have some news. This will be the priority of this team.”

“We want to be part of it, boss,” Natasha growled, hoping it wasn’t too late.

“No, none of you will go to Malibu,” the boss finished and interrupted Steve as he was about to argue and expose his opinions. “You too, Rogers. You’re all compromised ‘cause you’re too close to them. That’s an order.”


	55. Plot Twist - (Tony Stark x Sister!Reader) [5]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Featuring: Harley, Natasha and Clint and Steve (mentioned)  
> Rating: Teens and Up  
> Summary: Tony and Reader find themselves in Tennessee to continue their investigation on The Mandarin and they find an unexpected ally.  
> Word Count: 2.5k  
> Warnings: swearing, mention of injury, mentions of suicide attacks, mentions of anxiety and anxiety/panic attack

    _Rose Hill, TN_

The noise was close to you as if someone was searching in a pile of tools, but you couldn’t know where exactly it was coming from. You felt as though you were in a heavy black cloud as you tried to force your eye open. You just felt this heaviness in your whole body, the sound kept hitting your head like a hammer and the first glimpse of the light above blinded your sight for a few seconds.

As you got used to the environment, you slowly turned your head, trying to find anything familiar. Dozens of questions kept repeating as you tried to remember what had happened to you and what had caused you so much pain. You blinked your eyes and you could hear it: Pepper screaming your name and Tony’s, ashes and you could barely see the ocean before something red and gold caught you. Everything became slightly clear, now.

“Tony, are you there?” You groaned, clutching your shoulder and you slowly shifted your position on what felt to be a couch. “Good Lord…” You yelped, seeing a well-built form hidden by a poncho sitting next to you.

Finally, hearing your voice, Tony rushed to your side- from a corner of the room. “Hey- hey, easy, sweetie. It’s me, we’re safe. I’m fine,” he soothed and helped you sit up. “Are you all right? Do you need anything?” He put an ice pack on your head, letting you hold it.

“Uh- just give me a few seconds.” You grunted and he saw your confusion as you slowly detailed the unfamiliar environment. “Why are we here?”

“I carried you to this farmhouse and then the suit lost power as well as J.A.R.V.I.S. We’re basically alone here with Mark 42.” He stood up, searching for a glass as he carried on. “I already called Pepper and some friends to tell them we’re good… are you sure you okay?”

As you heard this, you instantly searched for some cameras or microphones, old habits; you had to admit, but you who knew better? Everything around you seemed old, just like the furniture, but the papers and the tools on the desk told you this place was actually someone’s and you hadn’t a lot of time in your hands before they would get back.

“Yeah, I’m fine, I guess.” You finally forced a smile and looked out at the window to see some snow falling onto the already white road. “Where are we, upstate?”

“Take this first. It took me a lot of time to find one,” Tony said and gave you a glass of water with a painkiller that you swallowed quickly. “And we're in Rose Hills, Tennessee.”

“What?!” The high sound of your voice only felt like your head was being shaken and you winced. “I… I gotta call S.H.I.E.L.D. because- they are probably wondering where we are. Is there a phone somewhere?”

Your question found no answer when your brother took this opportunity to look at the healing wound on your scalp, reminding of what had happened back at the mansion. Your home now inexistent with your happiest memories destroyed.

“You’ve been an idiot. You’ve been reckless,” he groaned as your face told him you had no idea what he was talking about. “The mansion! You came in and then I saw you falling with the house into the ocean! You were unconscious for at least two hours!”

“Aren’t I a Stark?” You quirked an eyebrow and exhaled heavily as he crossed his arms and stood in front of you. “Listen, I already feel like shit. I’m sorry, but you were there and I couldn’t let you inside. You mean the world to me, you know. We’ve lost so many people in our life that I couldn’t afford to lose my world.”

“And you think that sacrificing yourself is better when all I want is to protect you?” He moved the iron suit to sit next to you and you fought the tears welling in your eyes. “Come here.” He put his arms around you, holding you close for a moment and you released the shaky you had no idea you were holding.

“I’m sorry,” you whispered and he shook his head. “We’re going to be fine and we’ll find this guy. It’ll be easy… remember, I got shot in the chest by a guy with a metal arm five years ago.”

“A metal arm…?”

“Shit, that was classified information. If Fury asks you, don’t mention that,” you chuckled and he looked down at you with incredulous eyes. “I think I should keep my mouth shut ‘cause this painkiller is making me talk too much.”

“Classified or not, that still sounds creepy.”

“And you haven’t even been there.” You breathed a light laugh and stood with his help. “Okay, I really need to call S.H.I.E.L.D., now. Have you seen a phone somewhere?” He pointed at the staircase and you smiled. “Thanks.”

You took the stairs, finding two different rooms and you opted for the biggest bedroom where a phone was kept. You pushed the curtain, looking out at the road before you quickly dialed the first number you had in mind and it wasn’t long before a familiar voice greeted you.

“Natasha?”

 _“Y/N?! Thank goodness you are alive!”_ She exclaimed and you could hear some male voices with her, expressing some cries of joy. _“Where are you? Is your brother safe? He’s all over the news, people are searching for you! Do you need anything?”_

“Hey, it’s okay,” you chuckled lightly. “We’re both fine, a little shaken, but we’ll get over it. I can’t exactly tell you where we are ‘cause I don’t want to compromise our work… uh- are you in a car?”

 _“Yes, wait a second… Steve just drive, she’s okay!”_ You heard your friends arguing and she finally brought the phone back to her ear. _“Technically, Clint and I are supposed to be in Europe, but Bobbi and Triplet are covering us.”_

“Are you telling me that you disobeyed Fury and Captain Steven Grant Rogers _himself_ is leading this mutiny?” You asked, dumbfounded and heard Clint’s laugh at the back. “I take that as a _yes_. Please, go back to D.C. and don’t do anything else. Tony and I have the situation under control, we need to find this Mandarin and finish the job. If the press thinks Tony’s presumed dead, it’s actually the best chance we have.”

_“Can’t kill you if you’re already dead.”_

“Exactly.” You narrowed your eyes as you heard your brother’s voice and some noises beneath you. “Now, I need you to tell Fury we’re doing well and we don’t need S.H.I.E.L.D.’s help. We can handle this alone. Please?”

 _“All right, stay safe. Barton is saying hello and Rogers is telling you to lay low,”_ she said and you smiled. _“Bye. You call us when you need us, promise?”_

“Promise. I have to go now.” You hung up and sneaked back into the living room to see a kid talking to your brother. “Um- who are you?”

“Hey!” The boy turned to you, pointing what looked like a potato gun at your chest and you raised your hands, holding a smile. “Is she with you?” He asked, glancing at Tony, who had a newspaper in hand.

“Of course, it’s my sister. Relax, kid.” He dropped the paper on the desk and you followed as the boy walked to the couch and removed the poncho covering Mark 42.

“Oh my God! That... that's... Is that Iron Man?”

“Technically, I am.”

“Technically, you're dead,” the boy pointed out and you took the newspaper, reading the headline: _Mandarin Attack: Stark presumed dead_.

“A valid point,” you agreed and the child sat next to the iron suit, checking it out.

“What happened to him?”

“Life. I built him. I take care of him. I’ll fix him.”

“Like a mechanic?” He asked and Tony approved. “Oh. If I was building Iron Man and War Machine-”

“It's Iron Patriot, now,” you interrupted.

“That's way cooler!”

“No, it's not,” your brother and you said at the same time, letting the boy touch the suit.

“Anyways, I would have added in um... the retro-reflective panels to make him stealth mode.”

“That's actually a good idea. Maybe I'll build one,” Tony agreed and the kid accidentally snapped off one of its fingers. “Not a good idea.”

“Oops!”

“He's in pain, he's been injured. Leave him alone,” your brother scolded, but internally regretted it. “Don't worry about it, I’ll fix it.”

“S- Sorry.”

“Relax, man.” You patted his shoulder and knelt in front of the kid. “What's your name?”

“Harley. And you're...”

“The mechanic is Tony. And I’m the badass. Y/N.” You winked, making Harley giggle and your brother scoffed at the back. “Now, I’m going to ask you where we can find some clean clothes because _nobody_ except you must know we’re here, is that clear?”

“A hundred percent.” He smiled widely and pointed upstairs. “You can pick some in my parents’ wardrobe. My mom will be okay if I’m helping two Avengers.”

“Thank you, I think I found a recruit… So, uh, who's home?”

“Well, my mom already left for the diner and dad went to 7-Eleven to get scratchers. I guess he won 'cause that was six years ago.”

“Hmm… Which happens. Dads leave. No need to be a pussy about it,” your brother tried to explain awkwardly and you shook your head, knowing he referred to his own backstory. “Here's what we need: two of your best knives for the lady. Very thin and keen ‘cause she’s picky. A laptop, a digital watch, a cell phone, the pneumatic actuator from your bazooka over there, a map of town, a big spring, and two tuna fish sandwiches.”

“What, you’re going to break into the local Toys“R”Us? We’ll need more than to take down you know who.”

“What's in it for me?” Harley interrogated.

“Salvation.”

“What's his name?” Tony asked and the boy furrowed his brows. “The kid that bullies you at school, what's his name?”

“How'd you know that?”

“I got just the thing.” He opened a compartment on the suit and took out a metal object. “ _This_ is a piñata for a cricket. I'm kidding. It's a very powerful weapon. Point it away from your face, press the button on top. It discourages bullying. Nonlethal, just to cover one's ass.” Harley reached out to take it, but he pulled his hand away. “Deal? Deal? What'd you say?”

“Deal.”

“Deal.” Your brother gave the object to Harley and looked at him for a moment. “You know what keeps going through my head? Where are our sandwiches?”

****

Later that night, Tony, Harley and you walked down in town, planning on investigating the suicide attack that had happened here not a long time ago. Under your hood and hidden by a coat, your brother closed his own and shifted his hat as you all approached the site.

“The sandwiches were fair, the spring was a little rusty, the rest of the materials, I'll make do,” Tony started as you walked into a dead end. “By the way, when you said your sister had a watch, I was kinda hoping for something a little more than that.” He pulled his sleeve up, revealing a Dora the Explorer pink watch and you both laughed at him.

“She's six! Anyway, it's limited edition,” Harley defended. “When can we talk about New York?”

“Maybe never, relax about it,” Tony scolded and went faster as you saw a corner of the street filled with candles, memorial photos, crosses, flowers and other decorations. On the walls were five imprinted body figures and lay in the middle, the crater circle.

“What about The Avengers, can you talk about them?” Harley insisted and you noticed your brother slowly losing his temper.

“I don't know, later, Harley. Just give him a little space.” You all stopped and looked at the remains of the local explosion site. “What's the official story here? What happened?”

“I guess this guy named Chad Davis, used to live roundabouts.” The boy sat down in the circle and you touched the wall with Tony. “He won a bunch of medals in the army. One day, folks said he went crazy and made, you know, a bomb. Then he blew himself up right here.”

“Six people died, right?” Your brother asked and Harley confirmed. “Including Chad Davis?” Once again, a positive answer and he tried to understand, sitting next to him. “That can’t be a suicide. Look at the shadows, it’s not prepared. It’s not the Mandarin’s work.”

“What do you think? Maybe they’re using him?” You took a step back to have a better view. “No bomb casings, what could it be? Some kind of weapon they have inside… the more we investigate the more I wonder if these are real suicides.”

“Yeah. That doesn't make sense? Think about it. Six dead, only five shadows.”

“Yeah, people said these shadows are like the mark of souls gone to Heaven. Except for the bomb guy, he went to Hell on account of he didn't get a shadow. That's why there's only five.”

“Do you buy that?” You interrogated the boy and joined them.

“That's what everyone says. You know what this crater reminds me of?”

“No idea. I'm not... I don't care,” Tony answered.

“That giant wormhole in New York. Does it remind you?”

“That's manipulative,” your brother sighed and rubbed his chin. “I don't want to talk about it.”

“Are they coming back? The aliens?”

“Maybe,” you bit and Harley looked down in embarrassment. “Can you stop? Remember when I told you, that he has an anxiety issue?”

“Does this subject make him edgy?”

“Yeah, a little bit,” Tony barked and closed his eyes. “Can I just catch my breath for a second?”

“Are there bad guys in Rose Hills? Do you... do you need a plastic bag to breathe into? Do you have medication?”

“Nope.”

“Do you need to be on it?”

“Probably.”

“Do you have PTSD?”

“I don't think so.”

“Are you going completely mental? I can stop; do you want me to stop? Do you want me to stop?”

“Harley, please, shut up!” You finally exclaimed and Tony panicked.

“Remember when I said to stop doing that? I swear to God, you're going to freak me out!” He glanced around him, trying to forget his agitation and he suddenly rose to his feet. “Ah, man, you did it, didn't you? You happy now?”

“What did I say?!” Harley cried as your brother started running off and you both caught up when he stopped, taking support of a wall as he fell to his knees.

“Hey, take a deep breath. I’m here,” you soothed with your softest tone, careful to keep a distance to let him inhale deeply. “Focus on my voice and breathe.”

“What the hell was that?” Harley interrogated and Tony rubbed some snow on his forehead for a moment and then threw the rest at the boy.

“Your fault, you spazzed me out.” He got up and patted the snow out of his clothes. “Okay, back to business. Where were we? The guy who died... relatives? Mom? Mrs. Davis, where is she?”

“Where she always is.”

“See, now you're being helpful.”

“Will you be more helpful and tell us exactly where she is?” You asked, smiling lightly.

“At the bar.”


	56. IMPORTANT UPDATE!

I'LL BE BACK SOON!  
  
Hi beautiful readers, I hope you are all doing well. I deeply apologise for being MIA these past few months. A lot has happened, bad and good things, like life and all the issues that come with it unfortunately. Also, that damn writer's block came back since this summer and I think I've finally overcome it. Anyway, everything is sorted out and turns out; I'll have more time to write/correct/post the next chapters of Y/N Stark: An Avenger Story this new year.  
  
I should be back this January since I want to take this holiday break to just do some fun writing, y'know, to throw myself back in so that I come back to you better. I promise I'm still very excited about this series because I hoestly love the "You" character I created. She's amazing... no, you're amazing.  
  
I have a lot of NEW ideas to add to the story and you can except a lot more words than 2k in the future. I'm just as excited as day one and I can't be happier.  
  
Thank you to everyone who's been reading, liking and commenting my work. I truly appreciate it and your support is the most amazing gift of all.  
  
⚠ FINALLY, I HAVE AN IMPORTANT QUESTION. I'm thinking about changing the title of this series, and I'd love it to be called "Fated". Please, tell me what do you think?  
  
Happy holidays everyone and see you in 2018.  
Lots of love,  
Your author, Salma  
  
❤❤❤


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